Hi {{first name | Y’all}},
For decades, women have been saying it--in boardrooms, at conferences, in salary negotiations. There aren't enough seats. And for just as long, the response has been: you're imagining it, just be patient, just wait your turn.
Well. We waited. We watched. We collected the data. And it kept proving us right.
Speaker lineups at major conferences are still predominantly male. The wage gap, wider for women of color, wider still for caregivers, persists not as a mystery but as a policy choice. Women earn the majority of college and graduate degrees and are still underrepresented at nearly every level of corporate leadership. The "pipeline" excuse has been running for fifty years. The pipeline has not arrived.
What has changed is that women are no longer absorbing this quietly. Manels get photographed and posted. Pay gets shared in spreadsheets that circulate on social media. Executives resign and explain exactly why. Researchers stand up at conferences and ask, on the record, why there are no women on the panel. Critics call it "making everything political." What it actually is, in most cases, is documentation--making visible what was always there.
Continue reading below for a great reminder on how to keep pushing.
Fem-Led News
There are some rare astrological events happening, several major planets are in Aries, creating massive forward momentum. Also--a sobering look at recent rollbacks on reproductive rights, campus safety, workplace equity, and foreign aid. And, why linen is the ultimate summer fabric for staying cool.
Change in this space is slow and incremental. Le sigh. But it's happening, and there are levers that work.
Demand transparency. Support pay equity legislation. Ask for salary ranges. Share yours. Sunlight is the most effective disinfectant for pay inequality.
Reward accountability. Direct your participation, attendance, and dollars toward organizations that demonstrate real commitment to representation--and withdraw them from those that don't. “Hey, Target and Wendy’s, how y’all doing?” 👀
Sponsor, don't just mentor. Women are over-mentored and under-sponsored. If you have institutional power, use it to put names forward in rooms where others aren't present.
Build solidarity across differences. The gap isn't the same for all women. Progress that leaves some behind is incomplete. Check who's still outside the door even after you've walked through it.
Remain at the table. Name what you see, calmly and clearly, and let the discomfort land where it belongs. As my friend Dawn put it (it took my breath away), “If you aren’t at the table, you ARE on the menu.”
The narratives used to justify our absence? They haven't aged well. The structures have been named and called out. What's left is the part that has always been hardest--continuing to push anyway.
I see progress, albeit slow, and that lights me the fuck up and makes me excited for the future. Ladies, you inspire me. Thank you!
With grace and gratitude,
Raven
WORK WITH ME
👯♀️ Join the Women Startup NC community of women supporting the women-led business ecosystem in North Carolina.
🎧 Tune into the Hacking the Patriarchy podcast. *Bonus: love it? Consider leaving me a review.
📢 Subscribe to my other newsletter, Fem-Led News, where I even further amplify women's achievements through stories, strategies, and role models.
💌 Read and subscribe to my monthly LinkedIn newsletter, “Women Winning.”
👊 Become a partner and co-create bold, values-aligned campaigns that connect, convert, and make an impact.
⚡ Book a 1:1 75-minute advisory session.
☕ Fuel my work! Enjoy my content but not ready for a long-term commitment? Show your support by buying me a coffee, a simple, one-time way to keep the ideas brewing!
