Gina M. Raimondo’s mission as the secretary of commerce is to spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete. In an interview with rolling out, she discussed equity within the workforce for women, especially women of color, and how the infrastructure plan providing high-speed internet to all goes hand in hand with her mission.
What would you say about how women in the workforce are treated?
Women in the workforce are undervalued, that’s doubly true for Black women and women of color. and we need to work harder to make sure that they are valued equally. [They need to be] supported, that means making investments in child care, elder care, and preschool so their kids can be cared for, and they can enter the workforce. We are doing a huge disservice to women, but also to our economy, by not allowing women to fully participate in the workforce. In order to make that happen, we have to get more serious about paying women equally, and making investments so they can participate in the workforce.
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