Celebrating our Limitless Leaders: today we honor Heather Traeger. Heather is Chief Compliance Officer and Compliance Counsel at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and a TXWSW Philanthropy Committee Member. Read more about why she gives back:https://txwsw.com/limitless-leaders/
My dear readers are all aware of the gender pay gap where women are paid 80% of what men are for the same work. What I was not aware of is that the gap is substantially larger for women of color. It takes the median black female worker 598 days to make what a while male worker makes in 365. The full article can be found here.
A recent FT article notes that women are still fighting for front office sales jobs where the pay is especially lucrative. The gender pay gap there is 24.6% which is mind-boggling as the commissions generated should be the major determination of compensation and therefore a leveling force. That said, I worked in a commission-based environment for 12 years, was the second largest producer in the office and all the men were given profit share and I was not. The full article can be found here.
Finally, demand from clients is leading more firms to recruit women as financial advisors. At the end of 2017, women represented only 14.3% of advisors in the industry and that number has remained roughly flat over the last five years. The article blames an aversion to the sales-culture typically associated with the role, but maybe it has more to do with the long hours and training required combined with the pay gap discussed above. The full article can be found here.
You will note that we have our two amazing fall fundraisers set so far. For Houston we have a treat – a private magic show featuringChampion Magician: Ben Jackson. Our Houston committee has arranged for an amazing array of goodies for the raffle all from female-owned businesses. In Austin, we have our wonderful Boots & Blackjack Casino Night at the Line Hotel. Thank you to the following local Austin companies that have generously donated to our November 7th Silent Auction. Attend for your chance to bid on these stellar items benefiting the Young Women’s Preparatory Network. Get your tickets here
I would ask each of you to consider corporate sponsorship of TXWSW. Benefits include attendance at our flagship events and recognition for your firm. To learn more, you may find our sponsor information here. Additionally, we would be happy to create a custom sponsorship for you. Please contact Bianca King at developmentdirector@txwsw.com
Kind regards
Christine
