We're celebrating the success of Change The Story Vt (CTS), a multi-year initiative to align philanthropy, policy, and program to fast-track women’s economic well-being in our state. Fueled by the collaboration of three core partners – the Vermont Women’s Fund, Vermont Works for Women, and Vermont Commission on Women, the work was advanced with the help of individuals and organizations throughout the state in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
CTS launched in 2015 with a project to collect baseline data related to women’s work, wages, business ownership, and in civic, political, education, and corporate leadership roles, producing 5 status reports, which you’ll find on this page. CTS, in partnership with Sadowski Consulting Services, created the Leaders for Equity and Equal Pay Toolkit, which you’ll also find on this page. This Toolkit is a free resource to empower small to mid-size employers (any organization with under 400 employees) with the tools to conduct in-house DIY gender and racial pay equity reviews. In addition to the reports, the Toolkit, and many other innovative projects, CTS created the Business Peer Exchange, the Let’s Talk Gender, Let’s Talk Harassment, and inspired the Let’s Talk Race conversation cards, Male Champions for Change, and helped coordinate the global #EqualPay soccer jersey phenomenon. Our deepest appreciation and gratitude to all CTS staff, to our partner organizations, and to all from Vermont and beyond who engaged in this work to change the story on gender equity!
Leaders for Equity & Equal Pay (LEEP) Toolkit
The Toolkit is a free resource to empower small to mid-size employers (any organization with under 400 employees) with tools to conduct their own in-house, DIY gender and racial pay equity reviews.The Toolkit includes the excel-based Equity Management Tool and a companion Pay Equity Playbook. Also included is an interactive Compensation Philosophy Worksheet, a Pay Equity Plan Template, and a Performance Rubric. The LEEP Toolkit was created by Sadowski Consulting Services in partnership with the Change The Story VT initiative.
Download the toolkit from our Change The Story Vt partner, Vermont Women's Fund.
Toolkit FAQs.
Change The Story Vt Reports
Women, Work, and Wages in Vermont
The fifth report (released in 2019) focused on topics related to women’s economic status and leadership. Women, Work and Wages in Vermont explores a range of factors that contribute to women’s lower earnings. Findings reflect that women continue to be a disproportionate share of Vermonters living in poverty, working in low-wage jobs, shouldering primary responsibility for child and/or elder care, and experiencing sexual harassment and intimate partner violence.
Download Women, Work, and Wages in Vermont.
Request the companion slide deck.
Vermont Women and Leadership
This fourth report (released in 2017) focuses specifically on women’s leadership in political, civic, and professional spheres, and the way in which leadership is related to economic security. The report is focused on leadership roles that can be identified and counted, including elected or appointed public servants at the state and municipal levels, leaders of community institutions, and leaders of organizations in the private and non-profit sectors. It is important that we acknowledge the myriad other ways in which Vermont women and men serve as leaders, many of them unrecognized by traditional measures but are nonetheless critically important. More on the findings of this report.
Download Vermont Women and Leadership.
Request the companion slide deck.
Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy
This is the third report (released in 2016) and focuses specifically on business ownership by women and its potential to bolster and invigorate Vermont’s economy. Like the majority of national and regional reports on businesses, this report relies heavily on data from the U.S. Census Survey of Business Owners. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are specific to Vermont. More on the findings of this report.
Download Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy.
Request the companion slide deck.
Where Vermont Women Work and Why It Matters
The second report (released in 2016) focuses specifically on occupational segregation, its impact on women’s wages, and the way in which it compromises Vermont’s ability to make the most of our home-grown talent. Much of the data in this report was new or not regularly collected or published. All of it is specific to Vermont and all of it is critical – not just in terms of what it reflects about women, but in its implications for the entire Vermont economy. More on the findings of this report.
Download Where Vermont Women Work and Why It Matters.
Request the companion slide deck.
Women, Work and Wages in Vermont (2016)
This was the first report (released in January 2016) and focused on topics related to women’s economic well-being. This initial compilation of information focuses on demographic data and represents months of diving deep into state and national data, reports, and other ancillary resources to create an accurate snapshot of the state of women in Vermont when it comes to work and wages. More on the findings of this report.
Download Women, Work and Wages in Vermont (2016).
Request the companion slide deck.
Change The Story VT Farewell Video: Seven Years of Impact
Learn more about the expansive work of our Change The Story VT partnership initiative. This 14-minute farewell video covers the data reports we issued, the Business Peer Exchange, our free Leaders for Equity and Equal Pay (LEEP) Toolkit to help employers conduct race and gender pay equity reviews, the Let’s Talk conversation card decks, the Burlington High School girls varsity soccer team #EqualPay campaign and the fund they created, and the work of Vermont men championing change. We also share new projects partners inspired by Change The Story VT.