In the News

Hollywood Reporter | Writers Guild Foundation Announces Youth Screenwriting Program With Spoken Word Nonprofit Get Lit

For the last 16 years, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Get Lit – Words Ignite has engaged and energized thousands of students around the country and even internationally with its spoken-word in-school programs. Now it’s announced a partnership with the Writers Guild Foundation and Final Draft to provide a path into Hollywood…

East County Today | Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan’s Bill to Eliminate the “Pink Tax” Passes off Assembly Floor

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer Kahan’s (D-Orinda) bill eliminating the “Pink Tax” on goods marketed to women has passed off the Assembly floor. AB 1287 will build on the work begun in 1995 by then Assemblymember Jackie Speier. Speier’s “Gender Tax Repeal Act” prohibited charging women higher prices for similar services. 

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR | California Signs Equal Pay Pledge

Over 60 major California employers, including Airbnb, Apple, Gap Inc., Intel and Twitter, have signed the pledge, which the First Partner leads in collaboration with the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and the California Labor Commissioner’s Office. By signing the Equal Pay Pledge, signatories agree to conduct an annual, company-wide gender pay analysis, review hiring and promotion procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers, and promote best practices to close the pay gap.

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE | Governor appoints first Indigenous woman to commission advocating for women and girls

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Carlsbad resident and professor Joely Proudfit to the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, making her the first Indigenous woman to serve the organization. “Representation truly does matter, and we need to have role models, we need to be seen and heard, and people need to understand that Native women are part of the tapestry that is America,” Proudfit said.

Los Angeles Business Journal | Adobe, Mattel, Twitter Among Companies to Sign California Equal Pay Pledge

California First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG) recently announced that Adobe, Mattel, and Twitter were among the eight new companies to sign the California Equal Pay Pledge, bringing the total number of companies who have signed to 65.

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR | Governor Newsom Announces Appointments 6.25.21

Nichol Whiteman, 45, of Inglewood, has been appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Whiteman has been Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation since 2019.

LOS ANGELES TIMES | Newsom names Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to succeed Padilla as California secretary of state

Gov. Gavin Newsom took swift action Tuesday to fill the newly vacant post of California secretary of state by selecting Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to serve as the state’s chief elections officer, the result of his decision to appoint incumbent Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate.

ABC7 | Holly Mitchell makes LA County Board of Supervisors all women for 1st time, pledges commitment to equity

Mitchell said at her swearing-in Sunday that “equity will be at the center of all of our work so as we fight to bring more housing to those in need, more mental health services, more job opportunities and real second chances for re-entry it will be accomplished through that lens.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES | Meet the State Senator Shifting California’s Workplace Culture

Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson has been the driver of several new laws aimed at eliminating gender-based barriers.“Gender-based barriers are just totally anathema to what this country’s promise and responsibility is.”— California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson

ELLE | A New Holiday Will Celebrate The Crown Act Bill Banning Discrimination Against Natural Hair

The CROWN Coalition is officially declaring this July 3 “National CROWN Day” to mark the the 1-year anniversary of the signing of the bill in California. 

SAN FRANCISCO NEWS | #EqualPayCA Expected To Increase Women’s Rights At Workplaces

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the first #EqualPayCA event was held on Monday, August 31, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to recognize Black Women’s Equal Pay Day.

VALLEY NEWS | Local business owner and chair of state commission on women and girls to run for Temecula City Council seat

Dr. Alisha Wilkins, a local business owner who also currently serves as chair of the state of California’s Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, will run for the city’s District 2 council seat this November. 

THE SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE | Dr. Shirley Weber: State Assembly member and educator is drawn to the hard fights

The 71-year-old is known to take up fights many shy away from, ranging from education reform and accountability to police use of force and affirmative action.

SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS | SB 493 intended to improve process for students

State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s bill prohibiting cross-examination of sexual harassment and violence survivors by their attorneys in attempts to ensure fair and transparent investigations for college and university students passed in the state Senate Monday night.

COMSTOCK'S MAGAZINE | MENDING THE GAP

In California, efforts to close the gender wage gap persist, despite the signing of The Equal Pay Act of 1963.

 

 

HALF MOON BAY REVIEW | Local appointed to state post

Veteran and businesswoman advances women’s rights

STOCKTON RECORD NET | Joelle Gomez appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women

Joelle Gomez, chief executive officer of the Children’s Home of Stockton, has been appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

 

BOSTONIA | Actor Geena Davis to Receive Honorary Oscar Sunday Night

Alum will be honored for her off-screen work to end gender bias in Hollywood