Change The Story (2015-2022)
Change The Story VT (CTS) was a multi-year partnership initiative to align philanthropy, policy, and programs to fast-track women’s economic progress in Vermont. Spearheaded by three statewide organizations – The Vermont Women’s Fund, the Vermont Commission on Women, and Vermont Works for Women – CTS launched in 2015 with a project to collect baseline data related to women’s work, wages, business ownership, and in civic, political, education, and corporate leadership roles, producing five status reports.
REPORTS
- Women, Work and Wages in Vermont (2016)
- Where Vermont Women Work... and Why It Matters
- Women's Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy
- Vermont Women and Leadership
- Women, Work, and Wages in Vermont (2019)
CTS also launched the Business Peer Exchange, the Let’s Talk Gender, Let’s Talk Harassment, and Let’s Talk Race conversation cards, the Male Champions for Change, the Leaders for Equity and Equal Pay cohort and toolkit, and helped coordinate the global #EqualPay soccer jersey phenomenon.
Although the CTS initiative ended in February 2022, the CTS partners will continue to meet regularly, elevate each other’s work, and expand their collective impact. Vermont Works for Women is advancing gender equity through workshops and trainings for employers and schools, our new Gender Equity Advancement Roundtable (GEAR) membership program, and Let’s Talk Gender and Let’s Talk Harassment conversations.
EMPLOYER RESOURCES
VERMONT COMMISSION ON WOMEN'S EQUAL PAY COMPACT
The Vermont Commission on Women and Governor Peter Shumlin launched the Equal Pay Compact in 2015. The Compact is a voluntary online pledge that enables Vermont employers to learn about and indicate their commitment to closing the wage gap. As of 2020, over 190 businesses and organizations in Vermont have signed on. We invite all employers to sign on and commit to tangible, concrete steps that will help close the wage gap between men and women.
- Resources to Better Understand the Wage Gap
- Strategies to Encourage Women's Participation in the Workforce and Close Critical Gaps in Opportunity and Performance
PAY EQUITY TOOLKIT
The Leaders for Equity and Equal Pay Toolkit is a free resource to empower small to mid-size employers (any organization with under 400 employees) with the tools to conduct in-house, DIY gender and racial pay equity reviews. The Toolkit includes the excel-based Equity Management Tool and the companion Pay Equity Playbook. We have also included an interactive Compensation Philosophy Worksheet, Pay Equity Plan Template, and Performance Rubric. Download the LEEP Toolkit from the Vermont Women's Fund!