Wage gap robs Black women in D.C. of almost $2 million over lifetime, analysis finds

By Samantha Schmidt

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In the nation’s capital, a Black woman makes 51 cents for every dollar a White man makes. The lost cents add up over every paycheck and every year of a woman’s life.

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Adding to these obstacles are the limited avenues for advancement within companies that are overwhelmingly led by White men, or “snow-capped,” said Doris Quintanilla, executive director and co-founder of the Melanin Collective, a D.C.-based organization that offers anti-racism training and consulting with workplaces.

Unpaid internships and low-paying fellowships often keep highly educated and qualified Black women from breaking into jobs in nonprofit and political organizations in the District, Quintanilla said. Even in progressive organizations, Black women are too often stuck in “program assistant” and “assistant manager roles” without clear options for moving up to higher-paying positions.

“What I see is a clustering,” Quintanilla said. “They hire a bunch of Black women in a specific job and that’s where they stay.”

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