Equality Should Start Within Organizations

To the Editor:

As the board chair of a major New York nonprofit health-care organization, I applaud Jane Eisner’s opinion piece “It’s Time for Charities to Hire Women CEO’s and Pay Them Fairly” (January 17).

At Jewish Home Lifecare, we are proud to have had a woman as our CEO for the past 10 years. In fact, talented, well-qualified women also head each of our four operating divisions.

Our succession-planning strategy has ensured that all high-potential staff, regardless of gender, receive the training, mentoring, and education they need to rise through our organization.

Jewish Home’s Board Compensation Committee uses comparative data in the health-care field in setting compensation levels, to make sure our compensation both complies with applicable tax and legal requirements regarding appropriateness of compensation and provides fair wages based on position and skill requirements as well as competition in the marketplace.

Our CEO, Audrey Weiner, is a founding board member of Advancing Women Professionals, an organization devoted to advancing the issues of gender equity, work-life balance, and the assurance that women’s voices are heard and respected in every board room.

As we work to improve the lives of our clients and to help maintain the health of the communities around us, it is important to keep in mind that our duty to society also includes the people inside our own nonprofits.

With the goal of promoting equality and fairness in our workplaces, as charities and successful organizations, we should never shy away from a conversation like the one about gender and fair pay.

Elizabeth Grayer
System Board Chair
Jewish Home Lifecare
New York