WITH is pleased to recognize the exceptional US Women’s National Soccer team who reached a settlement on their equal pay and equal treatment lawsuit and received $22 million and an additional $2 million for an account to benefit the players in their post-career goals and in their charitable efforts related to women’s and girls’ soccer. Our hats are off to soccer team member Megan Rapinoe and Simone Biles gymnastic team member who will be awarded our Nation’s highest honor – the Presidential Medal of Freedom on July 7, 2022.

WITH invites you to meet and learn more about Alex Morgan, one of the women who filed that landmark winning lawsuit. Alex is now playing with The San Diego Wave, a new team playing at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.

I congratulate Alex and the National Soccer Team on what everyone calls a victory, and what I call the latest win in women’s fight for equity. Our fight has been and is still going on- not just in this field of hospitality’s recreation and attractions sector but throughout our industry.

The story of the 50-year fight of women soccer team players identifies some of the tools we will show you how to use during the 2nd Annual WITH National Conference, September 8-9, 2022 in San Diego California. The conference theme, ‘Charting Our Future and Leading with Resilience’, addresses in specific detail how to create future opportunities, persist, lead the way, “bounce back & bounce up”, and win and win and win.

The soccer “Team Win One” came because the women created opportunities. In 1972 the government was persuaded to issue historic Title 9 that mandated equality for girls’ and women’s sports in federally funded educational institutes. Title 9 gave opportunities to hundreds of players and inspired generations of little girls to dream big dreams. Over the next 20 years, the women's soccer players made the most of those opportunities. The world changed as the team became winners and people started to take notice. “But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they still endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues”.

“Team Win Two” came because the women were resilient and persistent. In 2016 (20 years after their stunning debut gold medal win at the 1996 Olympics), a group of women players filed and won an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint over the large gender gap in their wages and treatment. After winning in the courts, the players negotiated contract terms that maximized their marketability and increased their share of ticket sales and broadcast revenue. But there were more fights to win because the players still did not get the same contract the men got and the pay gap did not improve much .

“Team Win Three” came because the women were leaders. They gained increasing support through their consistently stellar performance. People paid attention to what these pioneering women were saying on and off the field and the undeniable evidence that their presence was of great value to the sport.

“Team Win Four”, the winning lawsuit for equal pay and terms and conditions of employment, was due in large part to Win Three. The women charted their course and stayed focused with Resilience to meet their goal!

A Woman’s journey to greatness is a fight requiring talent, blood, sweat, tears, sacrifices and teamwork. It also requires opportunities, cultural support, and resilience in the face of the inequities, harm, and toxic pressures that exist. A woman’s journey requires her to pull together with a team of like-minded women, complain, earn support, use social media, push for diversity, inclusion, and equity, and recognize every woman for who she is as well as for what she does

Even though the culture changed as the women repeatedly informed their growing number of supportive fans how women were being treated, the perception continued that these women were due equal pay only because they were “exceptional”. The inequality is still there because the typical woman working full-time, year-round is still being paid 83 cents for every dollar paid to men. In 2021, Megan Rapinoe, testified before Congress that, "One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind."

WITH totally agrees with the opinion that states “ when girls and women must be “exceptional” just to be considered equal to men it only perpetuates the dynamics by which girls and women experience discrimination in the first place”. This concept of women having to be “exceptional” doesn’t make room for women to choose how they show up in the workplace.

WITH is working toward a world where a woman can just show up and “be”. Be her equal self, be compensated fairly and receive equal treatment regardless of how much revenue she brings or how many titles she wins. WITH is working toward a world where a woman is embraced for who she is and is able to take chances free from the fear of career-ending mistakes. A world without the stereotypes that women who are as good or as strong or as able to attract business as the men are “exceptional”. WITH understands that the world is not there yet but we will get there - together.

In “WITH WORLD”, Women won’t have to display a similarity with white maleness just to be accepted as equal. I know my status as a business owner, my accomplishments and successes give me somewhat greater freedom to “show up as me” and yet, society tends to see me as “exceptional” – as “different” – as an “exception to the rule”. Sometimes I still experience the feeling of being an outsider and as if my actions are always being judged. Sometimes I still feel that to survive I have to “show up” as “pleasant” and “articulate” and “dressed right” and “professional” and “problem-free”. Women who are complimented with words and sentiments like these have often given up much of the individuality and authenticity that bring richness, energy, and new ideas to the workplace.

The concept of a woman being ’exceptional” doesn’t credit the fact that she is just like other women - doing the work that needs to be done and focusing on the things that matter to ensure that others will have the chance to grow and contribute. It is not “exceptional” for women to possess a basic value of equality, social justice, and dedication, and women do not take any “special” pride in or appreciate any “astonished” recognition for what they accomplish.

A truly exceptional woman is one who never stops learning and expanding her worldview. One who has a sense of inclusion and rightness. One who has been encouraged to make her own way to the table (or to make a new table), and to sit there and share her unique strength, defiant poise, beauty, and dignity. The conduct of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown at her confirmation hearing is a great example of this and the story of Ketanji Brown Jackson and her supportive girlfriends shows how important we can be to each other.

I look around my community and see many women who are exceptional and not exceptions. This September during the WITH National Conference in San Diego, MCCSN will honor seven of these women at the 6th annual WITH Awards luncheon. I encourage you to “see and appreciate” and envision yourself in all the exceptional women around you today, this month, and every day of the year!

WITH AGREES: EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN ARE NOT EXCEPTIONS. THEY ARE WOMEN WHO SHOW UP, TEAM UP AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

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