The Office of Governor John Bel Edwards in partnership with United Way of Southeast Louisiana hosted the 2017 Equal Pay Summit at the Shaw Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, March 10th. UWSELA Chief Operating Officer, Charmaine Caccioppi, serves as Chair of Governor Edwards' Louisiana Women's Policy and Research Commission while Kim Sport, UWSELA Public Policy Chair served as the co-chair of the Equal Pay Summit. 
Hundreds were in attendance to participate in the discussion, which included panels comprised of business leaders and state representatives hoping to improve the condition of pay equity in our state. We believe that equitable pay is not only good for business, but critical for families who bear the additional burden when an increasing number of women are the sole breadwinner in a household. We must step up to the challenge and change to status quo in accordance with our Blueprint for Prosperity and United Against Poverty Public Policy Agenda.
Here are 5 things you can do to help pass equal pay legislation in Louisiana:
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Share information with your friends and family about the importance of equal pay in Louisiana. Use #EqualPayWorks and #lalege on Twitter.
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Call and email your legislators and ask them to vote FOR meaningful equal pay legislation. Find their contact info at gov.la.gov/my-legislators.
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Call and email members of the House and Senate Labor Committees and ask them to vote FOR meaningful equal pay legislation.
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Submit a letter to the editor of your local paper about the importance of equal pay in Louisiana.
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Attend committee hearings on equal pay legislation.
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Please join us in an important step forward as we continue to fight for the health, education and financial stability of each person in our community.