CLOSING THE GAP

This week's newsletter is written by CNBC Make It work editor Hanna Howard. You can follow Hanna on Twitter @_hannahoward.

There’s nothing like starting a new year with some good news, and this week, amid all the disheartening headlines about the continuing coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been lucky to have some Closing the Gap bright spots. 

Perhaps you heard that minor league baseball will be welcoming its first woman manager. The New York Yankees tapped Rachel Balkovec, who has worked for the organization as a hitting coach since 2019, to manage their low A affiliate team, the Tampa Tarpons. Notably, the Sunshine State is also home to MLB’s first female manager, Kim Ng, who took over leadership of the Miami Marlins in 2020.

But maybe baseball’s not your thing — how about some money moves?

This week, the U.S. Mint started shipping quarters featuring the likeness of Maya Angelou that mark the first in a series commemorating notable women in American history. The writer’s place on the coins makes her the first Black woman to be featured on American currency, and future coins in the series will depict astronaut Sally Ride, Chinese American actress Anna May Wong, activist Nina Otero-Warren and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Make It’s Tom Huddleston recently talked with former U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, who helped push for the legislation that ultimately resulted in these new quarters, and she shared her hopes for their impact. “For a lot of young girls, [like] my daughter, and hopefully a lot of future leaders, that will symbolize a lot for them – what I call ‘inspirations for aspirations,’ using history to inspire our future.”

Finally, my favorite milestone of the past week is Amy Schneider passing the $1 million mark on “Jeopardy!” As a longtime fan of the trivia show (and former one-day winner), it’s been awe-inspiring to watch Schneider’s run as a champion. Only four contestants have ever hit $1 million during the regular season and the other three — Ken Jennings, James Holzauer and Matt Amodio — are all men. In her now 31-game winning streak, Schneider has also notched the most wins of any woman on the show, surpassing Julia Collins’ 2014 20-game run. 

While “Jeopardy!” records, minor leagues and literal pocket change may seem trivial to many, they point to what we at Closing the Gap know all too well: There are always more glass ceilings to shatter and even the most mundane matter to someone. As Rios put it, “We value what we see every day, but do we see what we value?” 

What milestones are you watching out for in 2022?  Share your thoughts with us at askmakeit@cnbc.com 

More articles from Closing the Gap

This 25-year-old entrepreneur turned her side hustle into a ‘Beyoncé-approved’ luxury brand

When MBA student Wilglory Tanjong launched Anima Iris, her luxury handbag company, two years ago, she just wanted to “start making bags for fun.” Now, her purses are everywhere: online with big retailers like Nordstrom and Revolve, on TV in HBO’s “Insecure,” and even on Beyoncé’s Instagram. The bold, geometric bags are designed by Tanjong, 25, and hand stitched in Dakar, Senegal.

More than 300,000 women joined the labor force in December, despite omicron wave

An estimated 321,000 women entered the labor force in December 2021, bumping the women’s labor force participation rate to 57.8% from 57.5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report. Make It's Morgan Smith breaks down the most recent jobs numbers, and how employers can better recruit and support women in the workplace.

How much do others make for the same job? Here’s where employers are required by law to share salary ranges

Decades of research show salary secrecy disproportionately harms women and workers of color, who are less likely than equally qualified white men to negotiate base salaries or raises — and when they do, they ask for less. But laws in 14 states and cities are forcing employers to be more transparent about the pay ranges they offer in the hiring process, and advocates say they could help close gender and racial pay gaps.