For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Contact: Raviya Ismail, rismail@diversegreen.org, 202-400-1592
Green 2.0 Launches Pay Equity Campaign to Address Wage Gap
Washington, D.C.— Today Green 2.0 launched a new campaign aimed at increasing pay equity for people of color in environmental organizations.
The Pay Equity Pledge campaign will address the wage gap that particularly impacts women of color, who make significantly less than their white or male colleagues. The pledge will ask participating environmental organizations to review the wages of their staff across the key demographics of race, ethnicity, and gender and then take corrective action to remediate pay disparities that are found. The campaign has more than a dozen green groups that have committed as early pledge participants including Earthjustice, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Sierra Club. The goal is to garner more NGOs to take the pledge. See the full list here.
The process:
- Conduct a pay equity analysis of staff compensation to look at differences in compensation in regard to race, ethnicity, and gender;
- Collect and analyze relevant data; and
- Take corrective actions to remediate pay disparities within a year.
“Environmental organizations cannot profess to prioritize issues of diversity and equity if they refuse to look at pay discrepancies among staff,” said Green 2.0 Executive Director Andrés Jimenez. “Women of color have been underpaid for too long and we are hopeful that this campaign will encourage organizations to look at what they are paying their staff of color, especially women of color, in contrast to white or male staff, as a means to address these problems.”
“As a woman of color working in the non-profit space I can speak to being at the receiving end of unequal pay,” said Green 2.0 board member and CEO of Youth Jobs Connect, Mitali Chakraborty. “I believe taking this pledge is the first and right step organizations can take to begin to rectify our pay gap inequities.”
“The wage gap between men and women in the workforce is unacceptable, and that gap is even wider with women of color,” said Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez. “In Congress, I have introduced legislation that would address disparities in pay between CEOs and workers. We must continue to work together to shrink the pay gap and hold those accountable that look to cheat women out of equal pay for equal work. Green 2.0’s Pay Equity Pledge is one way that environmental organizations can begin to make long-term commitments to pay equity.”
“Pay equity should be a given at every workplace, and non-profits working in the public interest have an urgent obligation to lead the way. Gender inequality and systemic racism are at the root of injustices that drive the environmental problems we are aiming to solve,” said Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice. “Making commitments to address the wage gap is crucial to Earthjustice’s mission, and this effort by Green 2.0 will help make organizations, and the environmental movement, stronger.”
“Everything we do at Sierra Club should be advancing environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice,” said Dan Chu, acting executive director at the Sierra Club. “Pay equity across gender and racial identities is an essential component of justice. We know that to truly live our values, we must approach every issue — including our own pay equity — by committing to just, equitable solutions.”
Green 2.0 is a 501(c)3 independent campaign working to increase racial and ethnic diversity among environmental organizations. Green 2.0 believes in a powerful, winning environmental movement grounded in equity and inclusion. Follow Green 2.0. on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.