UMass Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine division will host Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and her statewide Advisory Committee on Wage Equality for a panel discussion at 2 p.m. Sept. 17. Commonwealth Medicine Executive Vice Chancellor Joyce A. Murphy, a member of the advisory committee, will sit on the panel.
“Wage equality is a business imperative critical to the economic stability of our state,” Goldberg said. “These regional roundtables will help to develop strategies for eliminating the wage gap across both the public and private sectors.”
The Sept. 17 discussion in Shrewsbury will be the third in a series of five regional roundtables, where the treasurer and her Advisory Committee solicit input on closing the wage gap from business leaders, academics, and employees. The committee will then use this data to develop a wage equality toolkit for businesses and organizations.
In addition to Murphy, the panel will include Kristin Lewis, vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Tufts Health Plan; Paul Matthews, executive director of the 495/MetroWest Partnership; Maeghan Welford, chief of staff of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative; Steve Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO; and the Rev. Liz Walker, pastor of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church.
“Wage equity in Massachusetts is an issue we should all take seriously,” Murphy said. “The Commonwealth’s fiscal strength is rooted in its wage earners, and closing the wage gap is crucial for economic vitality.”
Goldberg announced the creation of the advisory committee, a bipartisan public-private partnership, in March. The advisory committee will help government agencies and private employers review their pay structure and encourage pay equity in hiring decisions and salary offers. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, a leader on wage equality through his Women’s Workforce Council, serves as the honorary chair.