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October 16, 2024

(Montpelier) –The Office of the Governor of Vermont has appointed Aleta Sprague of Dorset to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW), the state’s non-partisan commission working to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls.

Aleta Sprague is a researcher and attorney whose career has focused on how public policy can address inequality, poverty, and structural discrimination. In her current role at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, Aleta leads legal analysis and communications and oversees a project portfolio examining the role of laws and policies in advancing or undermining social and economic equality, both within the U.S. and globally. Aleta has co-authored two books, over 20 peer-reviewed articles, and numerous opinion pieces in outlets including the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Her most recent book, Equality within Our Lifetimes: How Laws and Policies Can Close—or Widen—Gender Gaps in Economies Worldwide (UC Press, 2023), explores how countries around the world are addressing critical topics including girls’ education, employment discrimination of all kinds, sexual harassment, and caregiving needs across the life course.

Previously, Aleta led research on how to design a more robust and racially just social safety net at New America, a public policy think tank. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Health Justice, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that serves incarcerated people and those newly re-entering their communities. Aleta received her BA from NYU and her JD from UCLA School of Law, with a specialization in critical race studies. She lives in Dorset with her husband and two daughters, where she enjoys exploring local trails with her kids and their cousins, lifting heavy weights, and baking through the seasons.

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The Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) is an independent non-partisan state commission working to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls. Sixteen volunteer commissioners and representatives from organizations concerned with women's issues guide VCW's public education, coalition building, and advocacy efforts.

Women, Work, and Child Care: report looks at child care, the economy and gender equity in Vermont

Ensuring Vermont has enough high-quality, affordable child care is essential to supporting gender equality in the workplace, according to a new report co-authored by Let’s Grow Kids (LGK) and the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW). The report outlines policy recommendations—including increasing investments in Vermont’s Child Care Financial Assistance Program and passing paid family leave—as key strategies to supporting working women and their families.

Equal Pay Day 2016: Where VT Women Work...And Why It Matters

(Media Advisory)

WHAT:  Equal Pay Day.  Throughout the nation, women’s organizations observe Equal Pay Day each April, symbolizing how far into the new year the average American woman would have to work to earn what the average American man did in the previous year due to the gender wage gap.  In Vermont, median annual income for women working full-time year-round is $37,000.  That’s $7,000 less than the median annual salary earned by men, and translates to a 16% gender wage gap in Vermont.

WHERE:  Vermont State House.

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