CLOSING THE GAP

Native American women stand to lose $1.1 million over the course of their careers to a staggering wage gap that has widened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research. 

In 2021, Native American women working full time were paid approximately 57 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men, the National Women’s Law Center reports — in 2020, that difference was 60 cents.

The ongoing wage gap means that Native American women would need to work an additional 11 months into the new year — until Nov. 30 — to earn as much as their white, male colleagues made in 2021.

Native Women Lead, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit, is hoping to close this wealth gap.

Eight Native American women entrepreneurs — Jaime Gloshay, Kalika Davis, Lisa Foreman, Kim Gleason, Vanessa Roanhorse, Alicia Ortega, Stephine Poston and Jaclyn Roessel, founded Native Women Lead together in 2017 to help Indigenous women entrepreneurs across the world access the capital, mentors, financial education and support needed to thrive in their careers and narrow the wealth gap. 

“Indigenous people have always been incredibly entrepreneurial, solving complex problems based on their own ancestral wisdom and relationship with the world,” Gloshay says. “Yet we have a lot of people in our communities, especially women, who, because of structural inequities and bias, aren’t able to access advanced degrees or career resources outside of their communities …  it’s up to us to close the racial wealth gap.” 

Earlier this year Native Women Lead launched two funds, the Matriarch Creative Fund and the Matriarch Restorative Fund, which have so far provided about $500,000 to 65 Indigenous women entrepreneurs. 

Native Women Lead along with New Mexico Community Capital were also awarded $10 million last year by the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, a competition centered on gender equality in the U.S.

While closing the wealth gap might start with funding opportunities, Native Women Lead views wealth as “more than just revenue or profits,” Poston says. “To build true wealth, we need to protect our culture, our families, our mental health and our communities,” she adds. 

The nonprofit offers wellness-focused retreats for Indigenous women as well as fireside chats on self-care practices, healing from trauma and other mental health topics.

Native American women represent two-thirds of the breadwinners in their families, Roanhorse notes, and are often key “economic stabilizers” in their communities. 

Yet barriers to equitable wealth including access to quality education, jobs and credit persist, and can do varying degrees of harm to women in different tribes. Blackfoot, Tohono O’odham and Yaqui women, for example, make just 51 cents for every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic man, while Iñupiat women make 89 cents for every dollar.

Ultimately, achieving true pay equity for Native American women “shouldn't just be about the bottom line and return to investors,” Roanhorse says. “We can all be more intentional about creating equitable, inclusive environments with Native women in mind that have positive impacts on the communities around us.” 

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