Panel to target gender bias, looking first at city hall

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has chosen attorneys, nonprofit leaders and academics among 15 appointees who form a public panel against gender discrimination.

Their first mission is to look for disparities in city hall’s own practices — such as pay rates, hiring and other procedures — and develop a five-year plan to tackle any unequal treatment they find, city leaders said Thursday.

“All reasonable people care about having equal access, so we need all men, women, gender-nonconforming, all human beings to join us in this work,” said anupama jain, executive director of the newly created Gender Equity Commission. (Ms. jain does not use capital letters in her name mainly because her native language, Hindi, does not have a capitalization system, she said.)

Established in December, the commission follows city council legislation championed by former Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak and passed in late 2016. The ordinance commits the city to the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW in 1979, urging equal treatment for women and girls across the civil, political, economic, social and cultural spectrum.

At the local level, Ms. jain said the equity commission will seek proposals soon for the gender analysis in city government. The effort is budgeted for $45,000.

“The work that we do looks at all different ranges of employment, positions, opportunities for women within city government. Then it becomes the baseline model for the corporate community in the city to follow,” Mr. Peduto said. Thursday marked the start of Women’s History Month.

Council’s ordinance also calls for the commission to advocate generally for principles such as “access to fair wages and human services.” Ms. jain said the group

will craft larger strategies to promote fair practices across the city.

“If I can do anything to push barriers for women, especially as a black woman, then I’m there. That’s why I’m serving,” commission member Kelauni Cook, the founder and CEO of Black Tech Nation, said in a statement.

Other members include attorney Megan Block; Jessie Ramey, director of the Women’s Institute at Chatham University; Chelsea Pallatino, a postdoctoral associate at Magee-Womens Research Institute; and Magdeline Jensen, CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh YMCA. The group will meet monthly.

Council woman Deborah Gross, who also sits on the commission, said femaleheaded households with children account for more than 60 percent of poor residents in the city.

“There is a gendered aspect to poverty,” Ms. Gross said. “And we need a gendered solution to address it.”