The Brooklyn Public Library recently announced the launch of a new initiative focused on helping Black women with underpaying jobs.
Known as LevelUP, the program will help women from underserved communities build their careers by offering them a variety of career tips. Set to help about 120 women over a two-year span, the LevelUP initiative will provide coaching on finances, tips on the interviewing process, mentoring and etiquette courses.
The program will also give the women the option to attend career classes in three fields- technology, finance and real estate. LevelUP will revolve around providing three 10-week program cycles on each of these three fields for the initiative’s participants to reach milestones and goals. Industry mentors, program mentors and financial coaches will help guide each of the women.
According to the library, the idea for LevelUP came from multiple sessions featuring discussions with the women themselves. Held by the library alongside Goldman Sachs in 2022, the discussions revolved around what a meaningful program for Black women living in Brooklyn would look like.
Through the sessions and an electronic survey that gathered the opinions of more than 10,000 women in the borough, the library was able to craft a program focused on developing more opportunities in professional fields through mentoring. The initiative is also centered on providing help with mental health, stress, financial health, budgeting and entrepreneurship.
“By providing tangible resources to advance Black women’s careers through the LevelUP program, Brooklyn Public Library is ensuring a more equitable path for upward professional mobility,” said Asahi Pompey, the Global Head of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs, per the release. “Goldman Sachs is proud to partner with the Brooklyn Public Library, so that more Black women professionals in New York can take that next step in their career, and therefore, increase economic growth in their communities.”
The announcement of the new program comes amidst the widening of the wealth gap for Black women.
According to the nonprofit Urban Wire, research has found that Black American women have a 90% wealth gap in the country; about 66% of this wealth gap is driven by an earnings gap. Overall, Black women lose almost a million dollars over the course of a four-decade career, losing approximately $907,700 in this span.
Both racism and sexism are contributors to the wealth gap and the earnings gap. According to a report by Urban Wire researchers Danielle Dickens and Mica Whitfield, prejudging and stereotypes have led to many disadvantages in both pay and hiring in the experiences of the Black women they surveyed.
With the new program by the Brooklyn Public Library, the leaders involved are hoping to address all the barriers that prevent Black women from success in their professions, allowing the entire community to thrive.
“Along with the extensive suite of free resources, classes and counseling in BPL’s Business and Career Center, LevelUP will help build a more equitable and a brighter future not just for Black women, but for the entire borough,” said the program coordinator at the Business and Career Center at the Brooklyn Public Library, Arcola Robinson, per the press release. “Providing access to education is a benefit for all of us.”
