Equal Pay Educational Briefing: 2024 Black Women's Equal Pay Day

Join the Commission in conversation with Melody S. Hudson and Monica Simmons as we discuss actionable insights and strategies for addressing the pay disparity faced by Black women, empowering them to advocate for themselves and navigate the complexities of achieving financial equity in the workplace. We will explore the pay gap between Black women and their counterparts, the historical context and contributing factors to the disparity, the importance of allyship, and the different roles mentorship and sponsorship play in upward career mobility.
Melody Simmons-Hudson is the CEO and Founder of Head Not The Tail Productions, LLC, in Oakland, CA, specializing in impactful storytelling through the lens of Black women. With over two decades of experience in corporate finance, Melody has led finance operations teams across various industries in Silicon Valley and the SF Bay Area. She holds an MBA in Finance and is a passionate advocate for financial literacy among women and girls. She also co-hosts the Invisible Women podcast. Melody executive produced the inaugural Black Women Thrive Summit in 2023, continuing to champion empowerment and representation for Black women. She co-authored "The Invisible Women: Addressing the Intersection of Pay and Racism in the Workplace," empowering women of color to advocate for their worth, visibility and respect in the workplace.
Monica Simmons began her career as a professional within Silicon Valley's tech start-up sector. She faced significant barriers related to race and gender that often impeded her professional development and opportunities for advancement. These obstacles, characterized by bias and discrimination, highlighted the systemic inequalities prevalent in the workplace and served as a catalyst to her career transition into filmmaking. Serving as an executive producer, Monica had a significant impact on the film industry with the 2016 documentary "Invisible Women: Being a Black Woman in Corporate America." Monica Simmons is also an author, podcast host, and co-founder of The Black Women Thrive Summit.
The Equal Pay Educational Briefings are part of the California Equal Pay Pledge program, an initiative led by the Office of the First Partner and the Commission, in partnership with the California Partners Project, a non-profit co-founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, to help close the pay gap in California, and present a series of discussions led by subject matter experts on improving and maintaining pay equity in the workplace.
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Resources:
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