SACRAMENTO – First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom oMar 14 announced that Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, and Fresno have signed the California Equal Pay Pledge, joining over 100 existing pledge signatories. The First Partner made the announcement alongside former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson; Deputy Mayor of Oakland Kimberly Mayfield, Kimberly Ellis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women; Gloria Chen, Chief People Officer for Adobe; and Holly Martinez, Executive Director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG).

“It will continue to take public and private partnerships like our California Equal Pay Pledge to close the gender pay gap in California. Pay inequity stems from a patriarchal system that was not built with gender equity in mind, but instead built to keep money and power in the hands of  few men in control,” said First Partner Siebel Newsom. “Given our history as a nation, closing the pay gap for mothers and women of color may seem like a daunting goal, but in California, we are up to the challenge. I am grateful to the over 100 companies as well as the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fresno, Long Beach, and San Diego for standing with us and sending a clear message to their employees, customers, and constituents that women are valued and that women’s labor is as valuable as men’s.”

In 2019, as part of her California for ALL Women initiative, the First Partner, in partnership with CCSWG launched the Equal Pay Pledge to build upon the state’s nation-leading equal pay laws by closing the existing gender wage gap. The California Partners Project, founded by the First Partner in 2020, also provides support for the Pledge.

Companies who sign the Equal Pay Pledge have committed to conducting annual company-wide gender pay analyses, reviewing their hiring and promotion processes and procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers, and promoting best practices to help close the pay gap and ensure fundamental equity for all workers.

To date, 111 companies have signed the California Equal Pay Pledge, including the State of California, Adobe, GoFundMe, and Apple.

California has some of the strongest equal pay laws in the country, but women in the state still earn 88 cents for every dollar a man earns. Nationally, women earn on average 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, the gender wage gap creates staggering financial losses with California women losing a combined total of $87 billion each year.