The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has long been an advocate for women’s rights and equity, so this comes as no surprise as she continues to set the bar for herself as a person with significant prominence and influence. This time, Markle is set to address an online summit that will address gender wage gaps and ‘women reaching economic and professional parity’ in the workplace hosted by the NYTDealbook next Tuesday.
This comes after the Duchess was revealed to have bought bought Starbucks coffee for employees working overtime to advocate for paid family and medical leave in the US, which has become a soberingly relevant topic amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as many families are forced to sacrifice time off in order to make ends meet.
The half-hour discussion is titled “Minding the Gap” and will be co-hosted by Markle as well as Mellody Hobson, Co-C.E.O./ President of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation.
According to the event’s website, the discussion poses the question as its thesis: “How can women reach economic and professional parity? Two groundbreaking figures join us to discuss top-down solutions, and reflect on how their shared experiences influenced their thinking about creating opportunities for others.”
In October, Markle wrote an impassioned letter to senior US Congresspeople on methods and appraoches to more equitable, fair and accesible paid family leave and sick time. She remarked in the letter that she was not writing “as a politician,” but as a “engaged citizen and a parent….and as a mom.”
The letter came in at about 1,030 words, and addressed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer directly, asking that they act “on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry.”
