From Ellen Pompeo to Mo’Nique, pay equity is big news right now. I have been following this topic avidly as a young professional who is still learning to believe in her worth and fighting to be paid accordingly. I have had some of these conversations about worth with one of the women I most admire, Jamie Millard. Forever ahead of the curve, Millard  touched on this very same topic in breaking the silence in nonprofit salaries back in 2012. Even now in 2018, the men and women of Hollywood are creating a spreadsheet basically identical to that which Millard  crowdsourced for us YNPs. Because the topic remains fresh, here’s the most recent edition of the Minnesota Nonprofit Salary and Benefits Survey, which has also helped me put my salary and skills in context.

Still, of all the stories of women fighting to receive their worth, the one that most sticks with me is the solidarity of Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer. As Chastain  explained on her Twitter: “[Octavia] had been underpaid for so long. When I discovered that, I realized that I could tie her deal to mine to bring up her quote. Men should start doing this with their female costars.”

In the social media circles I frequent, Chastain’s actions were praised as a brilliant show of allyship, solidarity, and feminism in action. She found something concrete to do with her privilege and took action. I have benefitted from similar help here and there, but I would like to see more of this kind of solidarity in the nonprofit world.