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ON OUR MINDS
Brought to you by Jonathan "Jonny" Cruz who may or may not be hitting the notes to Mariah Carey’s 1995 hit, “Fantasy”….okay I’m definitely not hitting those notes, but it’s still a sweet, sweet fantasy!
Dollar Dollar Bill Y’all
August 3 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Why August 3 specifically? That’s how long a Black woman in a full-time, year-round position must work to earn what white men made at the end of the previous year. Put another way, Black women in 2021 earned 63 cents for every dollar their white male counterparts earned, or, Black women must work 579 days to earn what white men earn in 365—that’s an extra 214 days.
This disparity is only made more concerning when we understand that for Black trans women, who live at the intersections of racism, misogyny, and transphobia, historical economic data on LGBTQIA+ people is limited or simply not available, making progress even more challenging, with no definitive starting point. Pay disparities deserve more than a day of recognition and require generations to address—check out the latest analysis by the National Women’s Law Center on the gender wage gap across numerous identity groups among women, and what business leaders can do to get involved.
Ho Ho Holy Smokes!
Another day, another harbinger of climate change—this time it’s wildfire smoke making its way to the North Pole (no word back yet on the status of Santa, but we’re on top of it). While we have grown far too accustomed to wildfires in the U.S., which only seem to be growing in frequency and severity, wildfires in Siberia's Sakha Republic have been so intense that scientists found plumes of smoke in the North Pole. Axios reports that beyond this slightly (definitely) horrifying new reality of climate change and its effects reaching new heights, the increase in wildfires across Siberia also threatens to melt greenhouse gas-rich layers of permafrost across the arctic, only further exacerbating the threat of climate change. The positive during all these telltale signs of global warming? One fifth of the world’s largest 2,000 public companies have created net-zero targets, with 61% of countries having net-zero commitments as well. Where’s Avatar Aang when we need him most?
Vaccine Me Up, Scotty
In the latest era of the battle against COVID-19, America’s biggest names in business are now tackling the thorny issue of vaccine mandates. Previously a topic shunned by most of corporate America to avoid political and legal firestorms, vaccine mandates for employees have seen increased adoption as the Delta variant (not to mention the latest iterations, including Delta Plus and Lambda) sweeps the globe. The New York Times reports America’s largest employer, Walmart, along with Disney, created new requirements for employee vaccinations (although Walmart will still leave hundreds of thousands of employees to make their own decision about vaccination), following in the footsteps of major tech companies, including Google, Facebook, and Uber. President Biden recently announced all civilian federal employees must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing, social distancing, and other restrictions.
With nearly 1.6M workers, Walmart recognizes its potential to lead and make a meaningful dent in the spread of COVID-19. CEO Doug McMillon shared, “We believe we have an important role to play and believe the requirement for vaccinations for our leaders is key to driving toward an end to this pandemic.” Given the huge caveat with their requirement, not all vaccine mandates are created equal!
ON OUR RADAR
Read:
- Need more inspiration for how your own organization can lead the fight against COVID-19? Quartz breaks down how business leaders can lead on social change through vaccine mandates and more.
- Hybrid work environments may be the future of work...but Axios finds employers are struggling to define what hybrid means, leaving many employees scratching their heads over what’s next for them.
- Taking family leave is still a challenging reality for many families, with only 21% of US employees having access to paid family leave through their employer. CNBC covers how Melinda French Gates and other leaders are partnering with the National Partnership for Women and Families to push Congress to pass a comprehensive paid family/medical leave policy for all workers.
- Lab-grown sushi? No, this is not a science experiment gone wrong, and yes, the future of seafood may be lab-grown—here’s why that’s not such a bad thing!
- In a recent interview with The New Yorker, John Kerry points to mistrust in America’s sustainability efforts caused by previous President Trump as yet another roadblock to successful talks at the United Nations climate summit.
- McP client Tulaine Montgomery pens an op-ed with Worth on what we can learn from MacKenzie Scott and her husband Dan Jewett’s $2.75B donation to social impact organizations.
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