Company Culture
In Facebook’s (4.0 stars) newly released diversity goals, the social media giant reported that within five years it hopes to double its number of women employees globally. Additionally, the company also aims to double its number of black and Hispanic employees among its U.S. operations. Bloomberg
Julie Sweet will become consulting firm Accenture’s (3.5 stars) next CEO, bringing the number of women heading S&P 500 companies up to 27. That number is slightly up from last year, but still means only about 5 percent of the nation’s most valuable companies are woman-led. NY Times
Amazon (3.0 stars) warehouse workers in Shakopee, Minnesota, are planning a six-hour work stoppage during two shifts today, July 15, the first day of Prime Day. The warehouse workers have long raised concerns about poor working conditions, which they say have only been exacerbated since the ecommerce company rolled out a one-day shipping policy for Prime members. Today’s strike will mark the first time American Amazon workers have organized a stoppage during a major shopping event. Amazon’s European warehouse workers, who are largely unionized (unlike its American workers) staged a strike last year during Black Friday. Vox
The New York Stock Exchange is set to have its first female leader in its 226-year history: Stacey Cunningham, the NYSE’s chief operating officer will become the Big Board’s 67th president. The Wall Street Journal
Quick Hits
Where can legislators for and against abortion join forces? In the fight for women’s rights in the workplace. In the South, where laws protecting pregnant workers are shaky at best, the usually opposing sides are uniting to push for accommodations that would ensure safe working conditions and job protections. NY Times
On Thursday, NPR aired a segment of “Here & Now” wherein three men (the host and two historians) talked about the history of tobacco in the U.S., using Sarah Milov’s forthcoming book The Cigarette: A Political History to guide their discussion. They never mentioned Milov’s name. The Washington Post
Sadie Roberts-Joseph, 75, who was a prominent Baton Rouge, Louisiana, civil rights activist and the founder of the city’s African-American history museum, was found dead in the trunk of a car last week. Police are still investigating the cause of Roberts-Joseph’s death, but her loss is deeply felt by the local and national civil rights community. She was the founder of the nonprofit organization Community Against Drugs and Violence, organized an annual Juneteenth celebration in commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in the American South, and was one of the last black oral street historians. Rest in power, Sadie—your work will not be forgotten. NPR
Pop Culture
Deodorant brand Secret, a sponsor of the US Women's National Soccer team, has pledged $539,000 to help the team achieve equal pay. Secret took out a full-page ad in TheNew York Times to announce it would donate $23,000 to each of the team’s 23 players in order to “be on the right side of history.” CNN
The name’s Lynch—Lashana Lynch. While James Bond fans have clamored for Idris Elba to take up the mantle of the legendary James Bond character for years now, it’s possible we might be getting something even better. It was revealed Sunday that in the next Bond movie, Lynch (you’ll remember her as Carol’s pilot friend Maria from Captain Marvel) will play a new agent with the number 007 while Bond is in retirement. Daniel Craig will still be in the film, and Lynch’s character is only occupying the 007 agent number, not replacing the Bond character. However, Craig has talked about leaving the franchise, so excuse us if we hope we might get to hold onto Lynch as our badass secret agent of choice! Refinery29
According to Forbes’ top 100 highest paid entertainers in the U.S., only 16 of the 100 highest paid celebrities are women. Taylor Swift comes in first, of course, but otherwise, men took most of the slots. Industries represented include music, television, film, sports, books, and comedy. Forbes
Around the World
Iran: In cases of injury or murder, the family of the transgressor must pay Deyah, or blood money, to the victim and their family as damages. Historically, the value set for Deyah for male victims has been twice as much as that awarded to women. But Iran’s Supreme Court recently issued a ruling to change that, requiring equal compensation for men and women. BBC
Nigeria: Terrorist organization Boko Haram has killed more than 27,000 people since 2009 and forced more than two million from their homes. According to the Combating Terrorism Center, Boko Haram has made use of female suicide bombers in 244 of its 338 attacks between 2011 and 2017. But due to cultural norms, male soldiers cannot search women and girls for explosives. That’s why more than one hundred Nigerian women—at great personal risk to their own lives—have bravely enlisted with the Civilian Joint Taskforce to gather intelligence and help prevent vulnerable women from being used as suicide bombers. Al Jazeera
Russia: There aren’t reliable numbers to go off, but one thing is clear—Russia has a domestic violence problem. And Russian police have been so negligent about pursuing cases that for the first time, the European Court of Human Rights has stepped in to help victims. NY Times
Saudi Arabia: In an attempt to relax social restrictions amid growing international scrutiny, Saudia Arabia plans to allow women to travel without a male guardian’s permission. Recently, several young Saudi women have fled the kingdom to escape the tight grip of the government and their families. Financial Times
