Morgan Beach

In case you didn’t know, Tuesday is Equal Pay Day — a day established in 1996 to raise awareness about the nation’s gender wage gap. To mark the day, Council District 3 candidate Morgan Beach will be hosting an Equal Pay Day Social at Capitol Hill’s Sole Repair to “explore the culture” behind women earning less than men in the workplace. Panelists for the Tuesday evening event include:

Christina Pedersen — mom, restaurant manager and community activist
Tamika Moss — HR professional and IDF Fellow
Maggie Humphreys — PRR and Co-Founder of Woman Worthy
Tiffany Woelfel — Co-Director of the Younger Women’s Task Force, salary negotiation guru, veteran, and women’s advocate

According to one study (PDF), Seattle has one of the widest gender pay gaps in the nation, with women earning 73 cents for every dollar earned by men.

When Beach announced her candidacy in January for the newly formed, Capitol Hill-centered district, she told CHS that the gender pay gap would be the top issue in her campaign. The 28-year-old Portage Bay resident sits on the Seattle Women’s Commission and is a legislative advocate for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest.

Beach will have her work cut out for her to be the standout District 3 candidate on the issue of raising wages in Seattle. Expected District 3 frontrunner City Council member Kshama Sawant was elected in 2013 for supporting a city-wide $15 minimum wage and was instrumental in getting it passed last year. Marriage equality organizer Rod Hearne and Urban League CEO Pamela Banks are also running for the District 3 position.

Council member Jean Godden, who’s running in Council District 4 this year, has also long advocated for gender pay equity within the city and helped launch the Gender Equity Initiative last year.

The Equal Pay Day Social will be held Tuesday at 5:30 PM at Sole Repair, 1001 E Pike. Find more details here.