Lilly Cavanaugh, Executive Director of the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission and Barb Smoot, President & CEO of Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD, the organization that develops and advances women’s leadership to strengthen the economic prosperity of the communities it serves tased with Lorena Mora-Mowry about the Latina Equal Pay Day in 2020.

-It takes Latinas about 23 months to make what a white man makes on average over the span of 12 months. In other words, Latinas make 54 cents to every dollar a white- non Latinx man makes.

Lilly and Barb would like to uplift all Latina voices and stories and begin discussing pay parity. “We should not only learn how to climb the success ladder, but also how to advocate for our value in the workplace and negotiate for just wages. There are complex systemic issues that exist for women in the workforce compounded by racial differences, and raising awareness of this is the first step”, said Lilly.

The 2020 Latina Equal Pay Day National Forum- ¡Latinas Unidas in Pursuit o f Pay Equity will be held on October 29th, 9:00am 4:30pm EST. This event is a virtual forum on strategies to eliminate the
economic, health and safety disparities that Latinas face. Let’s close the disparity gaps for the next generation of Latina leaders!

About Barb Smoot:

Barb is President & CEO of Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD), the organization that develops and advances women’s leadership to strengthen the economic prosperity of the communities it serves. Barb serves on the national board of National Church Residences, the largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing in the U.S., chairs the Audit, Finance & Risk Committee and serves on the foundation board. Barb was recently selected to serve on Franklin County’s Equity Alliance Committee which focuses on strategies to improve success outcomes for African American businesses historically diminished by the economic injury of systemic racism and the disproportionate detrimental impact of COVID-19. She is a commissioner on the Columbus Women’s Commission, chairing the Gender Equity in the Workplace Committee, and also serves on the City of Westerville Board of Zoning Appeals. Barb has previously served on the boards of the Nationwide Federal Credit Union, the Martin Luther King Arts Complex and St. Joseph Montessori School. Barb, a past Fellow in the Society of Actuaries, has 20+ years of prior financial services experience at Nationwide Financial where she held a variety of executive roles including product manager for individual life insurance, a profit center that generated over $80 million in pre-tax operating earnings and over $175 million in first-year premiums. Barb is a 2020 YWCA Columbus Women of Achievement honoree and was selected as Columbus CEO 2017 CEO of the Year for Small Nonprofits. She is a graduate of Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics.

About Lilly Cavanaugh

Lilly is the executive director of OCHLA (Ohio Commission for Latino Affairs). She is Costa Rican and moved to Ohio in the 1980’s. She has been an entrepreneur, volunteer, and advocate for immigrant rights. She really is an inspiration to the community and an example of, not only success, but also the importance of being fully invested in the community.