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Changemakers like Massachusetts Women in Politics President Gail Jackson-Blount are giving women and women of color a “seat at the table” as lawmakers prepare to tackle massive racial and gender inequities laid bare by the pandemic.
The group will gather lawmakers and industry leaders at its inaugural breakfast to celebrate women leaders’ growing ranks in politics and business, including a panel on making the state economy more inclusive.
The Legislature is considering bills addressing racial disparities in pay, health outcomes after giving birth and expanding funding for child care and the child tax credit — to name a few. But equity advocates tell MASSterList that righting longstanding injustices will require a years-long commitment from stakeholders in government, business, education and beyond.
Former Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title, now leads the Parabola Center and lobbies for federal legalization and policies that ensure women of color in particular have the opportunity to stake their claim in the cannabis industry.
It’s up to lawmakers to choose policies that empower communities like women of color over big business, she said, “who were most impacted by the drug war and face the most difficulty in starting a business, finding investment and who are already way underrepresented.”
One glaring hurdle is prioritizing and passing laws in a Legislature and an economy that is not truly representative of the people it serves. By and large, those walking the halls of power today — both in business and government — do not evenly reflect the ethnic and gender diversity here in Massachusetts.
Currently, 62 women serve in the state Legislature — 31 percent of the 200-member body. That’s in a state where women outnumber men at 51 percent of the population, recent Census data show.
Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson of UMass Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy said the numbers are even more “abysmal” for racial disparities — particularly among women of color.
When it comes to business, women hold top leadership positions in just 8% of Massachusetts’ largest companies, a spring report revealed.
Progress is happening, says Nsiah-Jefferson. Minority ranks are increasing. Bay Staters elected their first woman and first openly gay governor last year with Gov. Maura Healey. They also voted in Andrea Campbell as the state’s first Black woman attorney general.
Campbell told MASSterList, “Having Black women, women of color and those with lived experience in positions of power, and creating pipelines for that leadership, is crucial as we continue to address issues that disproportionately impact our communities such as barriers to economic mobility, maternal health, environmental injustice and so much more.”
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