Andrea Obando

The Project

Andrea sought to eliminate barriers to economic security for low wage women of color in California by enforcing equal pay laws and using legal advocacy and community outreach to expand their access to high-wage jobs.

California women lose more than $78.6 billion a year to the gender wage gap. For women of color, the wage gap in California is much worse: $0.53 for black women and $0.43 for Latinas. Apprenticeships are the leading entry point into higher-paying construction jobs, but fewer than 6 percent of apprentices are women. Ensuring equal access to apprenticeships requires increased attention to improving conditions on the job, as 40 percent of tradeswomen face sexual harassment or discrimination that causes them to quit

Fellowship Highlights

In the past two years, Andrea has:

• Conducted outreach around the Fair Pay Act to over 400 individuals and organizations;
• Provided brief advice to 150 female workers;
• Provided pre-litigation representation to five women; one case settled, the rest are pending;
• Collaborated with a pre-apprenticeship program to provide sexual harassment training to pre-apprentices;
• Conducted more than 30 community and partner-focused workshops, webinars, and presentations on equal pay and harassment, directly reaching more than 600 individuals;
• Collaborated with over 20 community groups to conduct targeted outreach to women of color seeking legal assistance;
• Prepared know your rights materials and tip sheets on fair pay, sexual harassment, and pregnancy discrimination

What’s Next

Now that the Fellowship is complete, Andrea plans to:

• Continue fighting for low-wage and marginalized workers as an Associate at Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman, & Wasow;
• Volunteer as a supervising attorney at the Berkeley Law Workers’ Rights Clinic;
• Remain involved in the public interest legal community.