Lilly Ledbetter: Her Equal Pay Victory Resonates as Struggle Continues
Patricia Clarkson as Lilly Ledbetter in the new film “Lilly,” premiering at Take The Lead Arizona.
Unequal pay for women is still a thing.
Even as a new film salutes the tireless advocacy of the late Lilly Ledbetter, the force behind the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, women in this country are still behind men in earning the same money for the same work.
The national Equal Pay Day held recently in March marks the day that women earn as much in 15 months as men do in the 12-month calendar year that ends in December.
“The national #EqualPayDay held recently in #March marks the day that #women earn as much in 15 months as men do in the 12-month calendar year that ends in December. ”
“The date represents how far into 2025 women would have to work on top of the hours they worked in 2024 simply to match what men were paid in 2024. On an hourly basis, women were paid 18.0% less on average than men in 2024, after controlling for race and ethnicity, education, age, marital status, and state,” according to the Working Economics Blog.
This improvement to the 18% pay gap is for all women. When women of color are scrutinized in the data, the gaps are even wider. According to The 19th, “For every White man who earned $1 in 2023, Black women earned 64 cents, Latina women earned 51 cents, Native American women earned 52 cents, and AAPI women earned 82 cents, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.”
This has been on America’s radar for nearly 50 years, much in part due to Ledbetter’s bold moves.
“Lilly,” which debuts nationally in May, and is the center of Take The Lead’s April 15 premiere, is the brainchild of award-winning director and screenwriter of film and TV, Rachel Feldman, a former participant in Take The Lead’s 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment.
Feldman’s television directorial efforts include The Rookie, Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, The Baxters, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Commish, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Picket Fences, Sisters, and Lizzie McGuire. She has written and directed several feature films including Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death, She's No Angel, Recipe for a Perfect Christmas, and more.
Read more in Take The Lead on female filmmakers
“There hasn’t been a movie (recently) about someone whose personal life, professional life, and employment life affects her in a profound way because of the injustices foisted on her, that makes a shift in the world,” says Feldman, former chair of the Women’s Steering Committee of the Director’s Guild of America and a former professor of directing at University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
“There hasn’t been a #movie (recently) about someone whose personal life, professional life, and #employment life affects her in a profound way because of the #injustices foisted on her, that makes a shift in the world. –@womencallaction”
Read more in Take The Lead on Rachel Feldman
To honor the exceptional work of the film showcasing the life and contributions of Ledbetter, Take The Lead Arizona is premiering “Lilly” on April 15 in Scottsdale, Arizona, followed by a panel of key experts on “Women, Wealth & Power.”
Register for the free event at the Scottsdale Public Library, 1-4 p.m. here
“One woman can make a difference,” Feldman told Take The Lead. “One woman with a spine. She was an uneducated girl from the backwoods of Alabama and she changed American employment.”
Born and raised in Possum Trot, Alabama, Ledbetter worked for nearly two decades at the nearby Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and was then promoted to a factory supervisor, the only woman in that position. After discovering that three other men in the same position—one who was younger and with much less experience than her—were all making $600 more than her in their paychecks, she filed a lawsuit in 1988 against her employer.
“Do I really want to take a stand?” Ledbetter said in a 2012 interview. “It was everybody’s story.”
Claiming she passed the 180-day mark to file the suit, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the verdict, but Ledbetter did not quit her push until it was signed into national law.
“Equal pay is not just a woman’s issue, it’s a family issue,” said then President Barack Obama, upon signing the act into law.
Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, paid tribute to Ledbetter upon her passing in October 2024.
“What a loss and what a life. Those of us who had the opportunity to meet Lilly Ledbetter in person were blessed,” says Feldt, who created the Take The Lead, “Women, Wealth & Power” event to showcase the film.
“Those of us who had the #opportunity to meet #LillyLedbetter in person were #blessed. –Gloria Feldt, Co-Founder and President of @TakeLeadWomen”
“One solace is that she lived to know the story of her fight for #equalpay will be immortalized in the film ‘Lilly’ thanks to the vision and tenacity of director Rachel Feldman and producer Jyoti Sarda,” Feldt writes.
Catherine Scrivano, founder and president of CASCO Financial Group and Take The Lead board member since 2013, will be on the panel discussing the changes and challenges for women and wealth. Also on the panel will be Jyoti Sarda, “Lilly” producer and founder/CEO of Nimble Media LLC., and Tanaha Hairston, founder of RISE Movement. Hairston is an impact investor, and also founded Impact Investing Community (IIC), a private membership platform offering curated impact-driven investment opportunities..
Read more about Catherine Scrivano in Take The Lead here
“I have been involved with Take The Lead Women since the beginning and have been aware of Lilly Ledbetter's story for even longer,” says Scrivano. The upcoming April 15 event in Arizona “is obviously a convergence of resources to help people understand the issues and the opportunities.”
For Scrivano, whose work as the founder and principal of a financial planning firm, says her work and the message of the film are aligned.
Read more in Take The Lead on Jyoti Sarda
“We specialize in working with families who embrace our philosophy that, ‘You don't have to be wealthy to be wise.’”
Scrivano explains her own path to a career in helping others achieve financial wellness and wealth as one of necessity. “My personal journey began when I was 8 years old and my father died unexpectedly. Watching my mother figure out how to be the breadwinner and sole parent in a time when this was uncommon (1962) prepared me for a career in finance and a passion for helping women claim their rightful place in the economic landscape,” she says.
Today’s economic uncertainty is also why the film “Lilly” and the panel discussion following are of critical importance now. “The inspiration provided by those of us who do not wield traditional resources or power to make significant change cannot be understated,” Scrivano says. “I hope people who feel powerless will recognize and embrace their power and destiny.”
“I hope people who feel #powerless will #recognize and #embrace their #power and #destiny. –Catherine Scrivano, Founder and President of CASCO Financial Group”
As recent national layoffs and market fluctuations rattle the country, the necessity to uphold the rightful and legal pay equity safety net is crucial.
“We first have to acknowledge that the pay gap still exists,” Scrivano says. “Then we need to be mindful of the consequences; reduced contributions to retirement plans, social security benefits, opportunity to build wealth through home ownership and other investments, including the education of our children,” and more.
And while the gender pay gap is improving in this country, there is differentiation across ages that is also troublesome. According to the Pew Research Center, “As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In 2024, women 25 to 34 earned an average of 95 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – a 5-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 15 cents.”
Discrimination continues. According to Pew, “When asked about the factors that may play a role in the gender wage gap, half of U.S. adults point to women being treated differently by employers as a major reason.” That has not changed.
In a recent survey of 750 employed women across industries, Ellevate CEO Gia Lacqua tells Newsweek, “69 percent of women reported feeling that no matter how much they achieve, it's never enough. Another 72 percent believe they earn less than they deserve, highlighting the persistent undervaluation of women's contributions.”
Moving through the present into the future, it is required to salute the past.
Feldt adds, “May we all use our voices and power for the greater good like Lilly.”
“May we all use our #voices and #power for the #greatergood like #Lilly. –Gloria Feldt, Co-Founder and President of @TakeLeadWomen”
