At Fletcher, we are passionate about helping women grow and achieve. We are a group of strong women who advocate for other women as the cornerstone of our culture.

Celebrated since the 1990s, International Women’s Day is an opportunity for the world to reflect on women’s trailblazing efforts. With gender parity an estimated 200 years away by World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, the #PressforProgress initiative will hopefully follow the movement of #MeToo and #TimesUp and speed up the rate of progression.

Wage Gap in Tennessee

The National Partnership for Women and Families states that “women in Tennessee are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual wage gap of $7,652.” These statistics predict that due to the wage gap, Tennessee women are losing a combined total of nearly seven billion dollars yearly! Let’s start our own hashtag - #EqualPayTN

According to a 2015 study by Status of Women, women in Tennessee are more likely than ever before to obtain a bachelor’s degree, but less likely than men to be employed (AND more likely to live in poverty). So how does one make sense of these numbers that don’t seem to add up?

We Need More Advocacy

The wage gap, like many other American women struggles, can be overcome. Throughout history, women have made strides to combat the norm, overcome challenges and achieve great things. But it’s not enough. Just like #MeToo we need more grassroots advocacy. To that end, here’s a list of politicians who can push for equal pay in the state of Tennessee. Do your part and shoot them an email utilizing the data in this post.

• Senator Lamar Alexander
• Senator Bob Corker
• Representative David “Phil” Roe, 1^st District
• Representative John “Jimmy” Duncan Jr., 2^nd District
• Representative Charles “Chuck” Fleischmann, 3^rd District
• Representative Scott DesJarlais, 4^th District
• Representative Jim Cooper, 5^th District
• Representative Diane Black, 6^th District
• Representative Marsha Blackburn, 7^th District
• Representative David Kustoff, 8^th District
• Representative Steve Cohen, 9^th District

Women in Leadership Must Mentor

As women in leadership we must commit to mentorship. As the number of women in higher education rises, so does their leadership potential. 56% of students on college campuses nationally are women, and women own almost 40% of businesses in the U.S. If over half of college students consist of women and just under half of businesses in the U.S. are women owned, progression is underway. Let’s keep the momentum moving forward.

Here at Fletcher, we are committed to mentorship through paid internships, volunteerism, speaking engagements, career days, Project GRAD Knoxville internships, pro bono work and more.

Are you doing anything to impact positive change among women?

#InternationalWomensDay and #PressforProgress gives the world a chance to discuss the issues at hand and empower women for at least one day. The wage gap does not define us, but we deserve better. Equal pay in Tennessee would be a great way to start.