“Excellent Resource For The Workplace!
This book has been INVALUABLE for helping me learn to identify and actively address racism in the modern workplace.
Important themes include:
- Differentiating “equality” vs. “equity,” and why it is crucial to do so.
- Showing that personal bias makes us doubt Black women’s credibility and testimony when they seek promotions, growth opportunities, or protection against discrimination.
- Revealing how corporate decisions made for “diversity clout” (p.108) aren’t the same as granting decision-making power to Black women and rewarding them as much as their white counterparts.
Written as a resource for corporate Black women, “The Invisible Women” puts into words the subtle and overt practices biased against them. Each section highlights specific issues, the authors’ lived experience, and studies from sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that provide empirical data to show these issues’ effects on the American workforce.
In doing so, the authors provide important insights for white folks and other BIPOC to build awareness of these inequities, and what they can do about them. I hope you consider adding this book to your collection of resources on this issue!”
“Read the whole book!
I found this book incredibly interesting and at times, frankly, overwhelming. While these are issues that are talked about in the media, or in, say, workplace compliance training, those simply cannot resonate the way your guide does. I definitely felt like I was getting an inside view at what people who don’t look like me deal with. Continuously. Not hypotheticals, not anecdotes, but your specific, recurring experiences.
Thank you....and I hope you have continued success with HNTT and EBM, documentaries, podcasts,...(what aren’t you doing?).”
authors:
melody simmons-hudson & monica simmons
Imagine a world where black women are only paid 58 cents per every dollar paid to white men.
Imagine a world where black women are required to work an extra 214 days per year to earn the same as their white counterparts.
Imagine living in a world where black women did not realize equity in pay regardless of their job type, education, or years of experience.
Welcome to the reality of Invisible Women.
Meet the Authors
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Monica Simmons
Monica co-founded The Equal Balance Movement and Head Not The Tail Productions. Monica also hosts a podcast for women empowerment on Spotify and Apple podcast “The Invisible Women Podcast”. Monica is a member of the NAACP and BWOPA. She has spoken on panels and held workshops speaking on Black Women in the workplace at Tech companies and colleges, such as Instacart and Evergreen Valley College and more.
Before producing her first documentary film, Invisible Women: Being A Black Woman In Corporate America, Monica worked for over a decade as a Manager within the tech start-up industry in the Bay area. Noticing the lack of diversity in Tech, becoming an advocate led her to obtain a Diversity/Equity/Inclusion certification. Her Business/Marketing degree allowed her to venture into serial entrepreneurship. Monica lives in the Bay area where she continues to fight for equality for Black Women in the workplace.
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Melody Simmons-Hudson
Melody is the CEO and Co-Founder of Head Not The Tail Productions, LLC (HNTT) and The Equal Balance Movement. A movement inspired by the need to advocate for Women’s Pay Equality. She is the director of the documentary, Invisible Women: Being a Black Woman in Corporate America. Melody currently co-hosts a podcast with Monica Simmons called “The Invisible Women Podcast”.
Simmons-Hudson brings 20+ years as a Corporate America professional and in 2012 received her M.B.A. in Finance. Melody’s passion for empowering underrepresented women and girls so they can “thrive”, led her to become a Certified Financial Literacy coach with NFEC. Her philanthropy efforts include being a member of Women of Impact leaders: Girls Inc (Oakland, CA), NAACP, and part of the UN-USA community to name a few. Melody continues to lead efforts as a Finance executive strategy consultant to companies in the SF/Bay Area to help organizations foster diverse talent and grow their bottom line.