(Bloomberg) — Two years since the dual-shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and global Black Lives Matter protests led to greater calls for economic and racial equality, leaders across business and government are convening at Bloomberg’s Equality Summit to take stock of what’s changed.
On the first day of the two-day event, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will weigh in on voting rights, Alfred F. Kelly the chief executive officer of Visa Inc. will talk about creating a more diverse workforce, and Jeff Gennette, the chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc., will speak about diversifying the retailer’s supplier pipeline.
* See a full lineup here. Click here to read daily coverage from Bloomberg Equality.Broadway Grapples With Inclusion After BLM Push to Make ‘Black Shows’ (9:35 a.m. NY)
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement, Broadway, in the midst of Covid-related shutdowns, was quick to address issues of representation, but is still lagging in other ways. “On Broadway we’ve done a good job at representation,” says Bryan Terrell Clark, an actor who starred in the show “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which ended its run in December. “Inclusion is a different thing.”
It’s not enough to simply be on stage, explains Krystal Joy Brown, who starred as Diana Ross in “Motown: The Musical” and as Eliza Schuyler in “Hamilton.”
“We have to be the owners, the creators, producers, and we have to have more at stake than just be a body people can see and say ‘oh great,’” she said. “Invite us in, it’s just not going to be us kicking the door down.”
Inclusion, Clark continues, isn’t simply a moral issue: it’s a business strategy. “What’s interesting is that I don’t think people really understand, is a diversity and inclusion strategy is not a moral thing to do, it’s a growth strategy,” he says. “As a business it’s important to understand that.”“Nowhere to Hide:” Companies Are Under Pressure to Close Pay Gaps (8:20 a.m. NY)
Companies are under more pressure to close the gender pay gap as investors, younger workers and new state and city laws increase pressure to disclose disparities, said Maria Colacurcio, the chief executive officer at Syndio, which provides software for companies to measure their pay gaps.
“A company doesn’t want to be exposed for having a really big pay gap,” said C. Nicole Mason, President & CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research. In 2020, women earned around 83 cents for every dollar a man made, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That gap widens for Black, Hispanic and Native women. “Since 1972 the pay gap has only closed about 20 cents, it’s super glacial,” Mason added. According to the Census Bureau, in 1973 full-time working women earned, on average, 56.6 cents for every dollar their male peers made.
At least 7 U.S. states will be required to post salary information with job postings, or upon the request of job seekers. Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington, and Maryland have laws with some form of salary-range disclosure required; Rhode Island will join them in January 2023. Similar laws are under consideration in Massachusetts and South Carolina. New York is the first major metropolitan city in the U.S. to enact such legislation.
“Corporations are lagging, not leading in this space,” said Marisa Sternstein, associate general counsel, Dentsu International, who is an advisor on pay gap issues.
Colacurcio also touted a proposed law in California that would require employers to disclose how much they pay all their workers by gender, race and ethnicity. “You cannot hide from this,” she said.
Starting on May 15, New York City will require all job postings to list the minimum and maximum salary for each position. The rule applies to jobs that are remote or in-person, salaried or hourly, that will be performed in the city by an employee working for a company with four or more employees.
(Updates with new panel information.)
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