Leading with Purpose: a (Wo)manifesto –Part 2

Because the patriarchy isn’t going to fix itself.

13 min readFeb 25, 2020

Part 2 State of women in the States

“Only 6 countries [that] give women the same work rights as men. [Needless to say,] The U.S. isn’t one of them.”

As we mentioned in Part 1 of (Wo)manifesto, women are tired! But, we are resolute in our fight for equality. In 2020 our rights to safety and choice are under constant attack, in a country still greatly controlled by men. American women marched in 1913, fighting for the right to vote which was granted legally in 1920.¹ (Even more footnotes/resources with links listed below). It would several decades before the right to vote would benefit all women with the passing of the Voter Rights Act in 1965.² In 1913 they women of color were forced to march in back of white women and Native American women were still not counted as citizens until 1924.³

American women have been fighting to end gender discrimination on some pretty biblical topics (divorce, property rights) for some time. We have worked in earnest since the 1970s and still have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment.⁴ Until the U.S. passes the ERA, the only equal right guaranteed by the constitution for women is the right to vote.

When women marched again in the 1970s for the ERA, we did so side by side. The march in the 70’s was a rally cry for equal access to education, fair pay and work, yet still do not have other guaranteed rights today.⁵ No doubt things have improved for women in the U.S. in the last century, but we are far from equal. And so, we continue to march.⁶

“The Women’s March in January 2017 was likely the largest single-day protest in the United States, and the largest global women’s rights protest in history,” according to the Lily in 2017. The Women’s March was an inspiring moment for us personally. We will forever remember our trip back east, showing up to be counted, squeezing onto already-jam-packed subways to get to the heart of D.C.

“The Women’s March in January 2017 was likely the largest single-day protest in the United States, and the largest global women’s rights protest in history.”

Thankfully we continue to march together, fighting for all women to be equal. The focus on intersectionality and inclusion was a core theme at the 2017 March on Washington, thanks to diverse leaders and speakers.⁷ While protesting misogyny in the highest office, women spoke out to highlight the greater gaps for women of color. Racial and gender disparities around pay and work affect us all. Gender equality is a human right issue that affects everyone.⁸

In the past 10 years women have reached some remarkable milestones too.⁹American women are reaching gender parity in record breaking ways for the first time.¹⁰ “2019 will likely be the first year in which [women] are a majority of the college-educated [U.S.] labor force” according to the Pew Research Center.¹¹ Multiple platforms and initiatives promote the economic benefits of female leadership.¹² U.S. women are growing businesses like never before.¹³

In 2019, women started an average of 1800 business a day¹⁴ and women-owned businesses generated 1.8 trillion dollars. Dig deeper and the stats tell a less upbeat story. That 1.8 Trillion is only 4.3% of the private sector revenue. In business the U.S. still lags, from funding from the SBA (Small Business Administration)¹⁵ to lack of support and opportunity. Women entrepreneurs start off with less capital. We account for only 1% of venture capital funding, ¹⁶ offered less financing options and are not approved for as many loans as men. Sigh.

“2019 will likely be the first year in which [women] are a majority of the college-educated [U.S.] labor force.”

Too many economic inequities remain. Women owned businesses accounted for under 5% of U.S. government contracts awarded in 2018.¹⁷ We graduate with more student debt than men, often forced to take out more loans.¹⁸ Historically, women held 75% or more of the top 10 lowest paying jobs across the globe. This includes 95% of the below-minimum-wage childcare jobs.¹⁹ In 2019 in the U.S. women still held 18 out of 25 of the lowest paying jobs.²⁰ One bright side: there is a shift to acknowledge all professions as work worthy of respect.²¹

With reports of a 24% increase of women in C-Suite in 2019, improvements are evident. But, wait for it…(drum roll) women still hold only 5% of these higher positions.²² Women only make up 22% of middle management despite holding 60% of undergraduate degrees.²³ While it is true we are making inroads in C-Suite leadership, the pipeline is still weak.²⁴ There is still a “broken rung”²⁵ with women far behind men in being promoted and reaching the first level manager role.²⁶

Younger career women acknowledge the persistent challenges they face. They observe (with frustration!) the lack of representation in our leaders.²⁷ Women of color are still underrepresented at every company level.²⁸ The U.S. is behind in creating companies that are LGBTQIA+ inclusive. We know we need representation and diverse leaders for a healthy economy and society.²⁹

Politically, women of color lead the way, holding more positions in elected offices.³⁰ “At the Country level, female elected officials have increased by 9% from 2015 to 2019” according to the Electability Myth. Like Amy and Amber, we hold men in our thoughts during this challenging moment in time.³¹

If we look deeper at the numbers, we find white men still hold 62% of elected posts, a hold that has only dropped 3% in 4 years. Men of color had no change at 6% and women of color only held 4% of elected positions in 2019, up 1% in the same time period.³² The current 2020 democratic presidential race says everything we need to know about gender and racial equality in America today.

With all our pride in democracy and the freedom of American women, the U.S. is still continuously ranked as one of the world’s worst countries for women and girls.

The U.S. ranks 51st (out of 167 countries) for Gender Equality, according to resourcewatch.org.³³

We rank 28th as a nation in gender parity according to the EM2030s Equal Measure Goals.³⁴

Despite our “progress” the U.S. ranks 19th in the world for justice, security and inclusion of women.³⁵

There are “Only 6 countries [that] give women the same work rights as men. [Needless to say,] The U.S. isn’t one of them.”³⁵

We are literally ranked the worst place in the world to work and have a family and we claim to be the best country on earth.³⁷

Nationally women, and specifically women of color continue to face enormous barriers to our career growth and safety.³⁸As if becoming a parent wasn’t already scary, our maternal death rate is the highest in a list of 11 affluent nations, and for women of color in the U.S. maternal mortality rate it is 3–4x that of white women!³⁹

This leads us to our next rant.⁴⁰

Intersectionality or bust

“Inclusion starts with recognition.”

We know (unless we act fast) too many women still won’t be heard. They won’t get the jobs, they won’t get to lead and they won’t get equal pay. Advocates for equality remind us, everyone needs to be equal.⁴¹

Unfortunately, continuing biases and racism impact wages for women of color exponentially.⁴² Challenges marginalized communities persist in all areas of the workplace from funding⁴³ to promotions.⁴⁴

Women of color have little representation on Fortune 500 boards.⁴⁵ Women of color are seeing their salaries improve slower than improvements of white women. Challenges with financing greatly affects marginalized and female-identifying founders.⁴⁶

The disparity in small business revenue between women of color and white women continues to widen. This gap increases, even while women of color started twice as many businesses as white women last year.⁴⁷

The Wealth Gap is greater and growing for people of color.⁴⁸ Black families lack the same access to banks as white families (yes, in 2020).⁴⁹

The racial divides in education persist as well. This creates a loop: prosperity gap, rooted in systemic racism that contributes to socioeconomic challenges. Poverty leads to a widening achievement gap which in turn leads to the opportunity gap.⁵⁰ You only need to read the data to know it is bleak: the likelihood of staying in poverty increases if you grew up poor. This impacts children of color 2–3x more than white children.⁵¹

With widening gaps continue to create economic insecurity for marginalized groups in the U.S. This not only hinders the success of women (and men) of color; it hurts their well-being.⁵²

We must have intersectionality to succeed.⁵³ Together we can create the future that benefits all of society. And the benefits of fairness and justice are obvious reasons to “leave no woman behind.” We continue to question how we show up and who’s voices we amplify or silence. A good first step in creating inclusive work cultures is to look at who is not in the room.

As the Imperial College of London points out, “Inclusion starts with recognition.”⁵⁴

Women in the World

There are several big initiatives studying the current state for women around the world. Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security partner with National Geographic to study gender equality issues worldwide. Started by Hilary Clinton in 2011, “Our goal is to build the evidence-based case for a focus on women, peace, and security.”⁵⁵ The part that makes us crazy is the need for evidence-based work to justify treating all genders equally!

Apparently, women must prove the economic or social benefits to the world to make men give up power. Eye roll.

Globally, money and media⁵⁶ continues to fuel the conversation around women’s rights, safety and equality.⁵⁷ Melinda Gates has also made a big push through social posts,⁵⁸ books, speaking tours and campaigns. Gates Foundation money adds research power, authority and media, keeping gender rights center stage in the U.S. and around the world.⁵⁹ With all this research and funding one would hope for better news, but the reality is except for a few progressive countries, women are still largely second-class citizens.

Persistent issues plague both genders in workplaces and societies at large. According to the 2019–2020 Women, Peace, and Security “Ninety percent of the world’s countries have one or more laws that discriminate against women.”⁶⁰ There is a lack of diverse representation and lack of advertising and marketing that challenge gender norms.⁶¹

“$10 Trillion is the estimated annual value of women’s unpaid work, 13% of the global GDP.”

Worldwide pay and wealth gaps exist. There is a gap in financial inclusion (bank access and accounts); 2 out of 3 women vs. 3 out of 4 men have some type of financial account.⁶² Invisible labor has its costs too. “$10 Trillion is the estimated annual value of women’s unpaid work, 13% of the global GDP.”⁶³ Women’s inequality hurts everyone, not just the female gender.⁶⁴ Men’s participation and support for equality is vital to its success.⁶⁵

Don’t lose hope yet: help is on the way thanks to tools from the United Nations (UN).⁶⁶ The UN and The Sustainable Development (SDG) 15 Goals for better business⁶⁷ are aiming to change statistics for women.⁶⁸ In 2018 the UN put out a report on the Women’s Empowerment Principles.⁶⁹ Many companies have signed on to the WEP’s letter of intent to follow seven goals that lead to better business.⁷⁰ These actions ladder up to SDG Goal #5: gender equality.

According to the UN companies are making some strides in two key areas: Leadership and Workplace. Businesses are implementing benefits like increased Maternity/Paternity leave. In two other areas, the Marketplace and Community sectors, progress for women around the globe still lags.⁷¹ We need to represent marginalized communities in advocacy and philanthropy to close the vast gender gap beyond the C-Suite.⁷² More outreach is needed to address the distinct issues facing women in crisis and we need to support organizations that help our local communities.⁷³

Together if all the small businesses of the world not only signed on to support Women’s equality, but tracked their impact, the shift would be enormous. –coFLOWco

Only 10% of U.S. companies adopted the WEP Tools compared with Europe’s 23% or Latin America’s 42%.⁷⁴ Nearly 70% of companies who have signed the WEP’s letter agree to increasing women in leadership. But, only 30% have actual SMART goals to achieve this equality in leadership. Yet we see this lack in support from big business as a moment of opportunity. Small businesses can leverage the tools financed and created by large philanthropic enterprises to create gender parity worldwide. Female entrepreneurs should feel emboldened to sign on to the UN’s WEP.

Together if all the small businesses of the world not only signed on to support Women’s equality, but tracked their impact, the shift would be enormous.⁷⁵

Follow us for the final installment, Part 3 of our Wo(manifesto). Can’t wait? You can read the full post on our blog.

coFLOWco works with clients one on one, aligning your mission with your day-to-day. Together we define the purpose of your business, diversify your teams, improve your creative operations, increase your revenue and make a positive impact. Our collective action creates gender parity at work, one leader at a time.

Part 2 Sources

We intentionally kept these footnotes because this list of 75 resources, titles, links and songs were too good to leave out. Use them as fuel to work for a change.

[1] This Day in History: The 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade, The Obama Whitehouse Archives.gov

[2] Series: Suffrage in America: The 15th and 19th Amendments–Between Two Worlds: Black Women and the Fight for Voting Rights, National Parks Service.org

[3] Weekend Read: Challenging the whitewashed history of women’s suffrage, Souther Poverty Law Center

[4] Equal Rights Amendment.org

[5] Five women’s marches throughout history that triggered political change, The Lily

[6] Episode 11: Still Marching, Jewish Women’s Archive, “Can We Talk?” Podcast

[7] What the Women’s March Teaches Us about Intersectionality, 2017 ADL.org

[8] Gender Equality is Not Just a Women’s Issue, FSG.org

[9] Our Favorite Milestones for Women This Decade, ellevest.com

[10] W.N.B.A. Makes ‘Big Bet on Women’ With a New Contract, The New York Times

[11] U.S. women near milestone in the college-educated labor force, Pew Research Center 2019

[12] Want Higher Profits? Hire a Female CEO, CFO, Kornferry.com 2019