Today, on Women’s Equality Day and as part of our #GapIncVotes campaign, we’re celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment and women’s constitutional right to vote. Undoubtedly an historic milestone in American history, and a huge accomplishment for suffragists who began the fight for women’s equality back in 1848, the 19th Amendment did not come without complications. Unfortunately, an intricate web of state laws and hurdles remained, including racism, that prevented many women from being able to vote until as late as 1965 when the Voting Rights Act passed. Today, almost 70 million women vote in U.S. elections, and in every presidential election dating back to 1984, female voter turnout has been reported at higher rates than men!
Founded by a husband and wife team who each had an equal stake in the company, Gap Inc. has a long history of championing equality for women and was the first fortune 500 company to ensure pay equity. Today, we are proud to say that a majority of our employees, including leadership, are women. We’re also glad to be an organization that is able to provide career resources for women and allies at all levels through Gap Inc.’s Women In Leadership (GapWIL) Equality & Belonging group. GapWIL enables it’s members to create meaningful connections across the company, empower each other, learn about and overcome workplace barriers, and educate the greater Gap Inc. community on the challenges and opportunities women face in the workplace.
In the spirit of Women’s Equality Day, the GapWIL network came together with Gap Inc.’s (women led) Government Affairs team to celebrate 100 years since ratification of the 19th Amendment as a milestone – not the finish line. They discussed the role that Gap Inc. plays politically as an organization, right down to the roles each of us play individually by participating locally and exercising the hard-fought right to vote. In smaller breakouts, members also discussed how to talk about things like politics at work and made commitments to how we can all continue driving this conversation forward.
With no time like the present, three GapWIL members took the mic to share with us their memories of voting, why it’s so important to them and the hopes they have for the future of equality.
Here are their voices:
Chris Walker, Assistant Merchandiser, remembers the first time she voted. “I was 18, and was able to vote on campus. It was such a seamless process and I was very grateful to the faculty for allowing that to our student body.,” Today, she’s thankful to live in a state that allows absentee voting and will be mailing in her ballot ahead of the deadline, consciously aware of potential delays. “As a black woman, I recognize the amount of work those who came before me had to do to give me the chance to vote,” she said. “My grandmother was a young woman in 1965. My parents were born shortly before 1965. The year 1965 is not a distant historical date; it’s a part of our recent history. Understanding this allows us to recognize that the voting rights of so many people were not protected for so long. In order to better our nation, we need the hear the voices of people of all walks of life.”
As a freshman, Chris recruited other college students to register to vote. Today, she’s helping grow her friend’s nonprofit initiative Masks 4 Voters. “The goal of this non-profit is the support voting rights, particularly in the face of this ongoing pandemic,” she said.
Julia Han, Associate Designer, immigrated to the United States when she was 5 years old. “We live in a time when so many people believe that it's not worth voting because they've lost faith in the system altogether. As an American whose parents were not allowed to vote until thirteen years after they arrived to this country, I find it an immense privilege, and an absolute necessity, to vote and make my voice heard, “she said.
Julia is also grateful to be voting by mail and while she herself has not experienced a barrier to vote in the past, she shared a story about barriers her mother faced. “My mother worked at a sushi shop during the mid-term elections. When I got upset at her for not exercising her right to vote, she told me she couldn't because Texas only allows for in-person voting for most elections and she could not take off work to go. It made me realize that there is an entire population of Americans whose voice is not heard because of the financial and systemic barriers that prevent them from voting. That's why I'm so glad that Gap Inc. is giving all employees up to three hours of paid time off to go vote if they are unable to do so outside of working hours!”
Sarah Rivera, Associate Marketing Manager, is proud to be a member of the Latinx community that has the opportunity to represent her family with her vote. She explained the first time she voted, in her second year of college at the age of 20. “I was especially excited to vote because most of my family, to this day, still cannot vote since they are permanent residents from Mexico, and I wanted to make sure that my vote represented my family. I have several friends who have a similar story to mine, and we all realize how important it is for those of us in our families who have citizenship status vote for candidates who will speak for people like us, in a just and favorable manner.”
All three women are also participating in the United States Census. Julia recalled her introduction to the 2020 Census and recognized how important it is to raise awareness on it, “When I first received the census in the mail, I thought it was a fraud because I had never heard of it before! Thankfully, I called my family to ask what this was before I threw the letter away. I can only imagine the number of Americans who may have ignored the census because they also were not educated about it. The census is SO important because it determines the funding of so many important local initiatives for the next ten years!”
We’re proud to have these women and our many Gap Inc. employees raise their voices and ensure their families and communities are represented in this year’s presidential election and census. Stay tuned to #GapIncVotes for more resources and stories, and be sure to register to vote and complete the census!
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