Ellen Bravo learned about pay inequity as a teenager, when her father, who had been the sole earner in the family most of the time, was sidelined by health issues for a year and her mother’s income as a social worker wasn’t enough to pay the bills. Ellen faced the issue again when she got a clerical job to support herself while organizing women. Her experience of the under-valuation and inflexibility of such jobs guided Ellen’s organizing work. She finally found 9to5, National Association of Working Women, and launched a chapter in Milwaukee. Ellen worked for 9to5 for 22 years, and as its national director for 11. She now teaches women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
Pay equity is one of the issues Ellen covers in her most recent book, Taking on the Big Boys, or Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business and the Nation (Feminist Press, 2007). For more information, visit www.ellenbravo.com.
