Latina Equal Pay Day, Oprah Stacey Abrams: Broadsheet November 1

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Today is Latina Equal Pay Day, Oprah heads to Georgia to campaign for Stacey Abrams, and Sen. Kamala Harris is taking her mother’s advice. Have a terrific Thursday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• 'Each one, pull one.' One reoccurring theme in the conversations Fortune had with the congresswomen elected in the 1992 "Year of the Woman" was the frustration, or even regret, that their many firsts—the first African-American woman senator, the first Latina to serve in Congress—didn't lead to more seconds, more thirds, more fourths. Fast forward a quarter century and that fear—that progress could stall or regress—is still very real.

That same sentiment is evident in this story about Sen. Kamala Harris (D–Calif.), only the second black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, who's abiding by her mother's wise words: "Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you are not the last." In real terms, that's resulted in Harris building a rather impressive coast-to-coast network of up-and-coming candidates and elected officials. She is, as New York Magazine puts it, "quietly prioritiz[ing] supporting a sprawling group of young people of color running for office," a group that includes San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, and Georgia Congressional candidate Lucy McBath.

Networking events have proven to be incredibly beneficial to professional women, and recall, as Kristen mentioned yesterday, that a lack of connections may be one factor contributing to female candidates' fundraising gap when compared to men.

Harris, meanwhile, frames her network building and mentorship efforts as "a duty."

“There’s a saying in the community where I grew up: Each one, pull one,’” Harris told the magazine. “The idea being that—you know, it’s self-explanatory. Each one, pull one. You get there, and you pull others up with you.”

The initiative, of course, carries an upside for Harris, who's considered a potential 2020 presidential contender. “People are cynical,” she said at the suggestion of ulterior motives. But there's no denying that weaving a country-wide web of loyal "Harris endorsees" is not without its advantages. New York Magazine

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Last but not least. Today is Latina Equal Pay Day—the last Equal Pay Day of the year, marking Latinas' extreme wage gap with white men. Latinas earn 53 cents on the dollar, a number that hasn't improved at all since last year. Fortune

• Zooming ahead. Ford instituted a new parental leave policy today that puts it leaps ahead of the other U.S. automakers. It's not quite up to par with, say, the tech industry on paid family leave, but the company's eight weeks of paid leave for all parents, benefits for foster parents, and monthlong part-time "ramp up" period back to work are a significant improvement for its salaried workers (like other companies, Ford has yet to extend equal benefits to its hourly employees) and will likely raise the bar for the rest of the industry. Fortune

• Finer fine print. We've heard of Wall Street adding "Weinstein clauses" to the terms of deals. Now companies are altering employment contracts with top executives to be more explicit about what counts as a "cause" for termination; namely they're adding references to sexual harassment to the wording of severance arrangements. Washington Post

• Working moms. Wednesday was the 40th anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the law protecting pregnant women in the workplace. To honor that milestone, here's an incredible photo series of pregnant women at work—in hospitals, in grocery stores, in the outdoors, and in Congress. Vox

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Christine Cruzvergara will be vice president of higher education and student success at Handshake.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• X'ed out. Richard DeVaul, director at the former GoogleX under Alphabet, resigned Tuesday after he was accused of sexually harassing a job applicant. He did not get an exit package, a point of issue in the departure of Android inventor Andy Rubin after similar accusations. As we reported yesterday, Google employees plan to stage a walkout today over the company's handling of sexual harassment and assault allegations. New York Times

• King is queen at CBS. As CBS tries to move on from its fallen male executives—Les Moonves, Jeff Fager, Charlie Rose—a bright spot for the network is Gayle King. More than Oprah's best friend, King is now a star in her own right. New York Times

• Answer that doorbell. Speaking of Gayle, Oprah Winfrey herself is headed to Georgia to campaign for Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams. Winfrey will attend town halls and even knock on doors before Tuesday's election. And while they don't quite have O's star power, it's also notable that a group of about 300 Georgia domestic workers ("nearly all black women, plus two men") are also out canvassing for Abrams.

• The grown-up in the room. New CEO Nancy Dubuc is the woman tasked with cleaning up Vice after sexual harassment allegations and calls for the media company to grow up. "Of course, there's pressure. Like any good Hollywood story, people look for the Caped Crusader. The reality is never as simple," Dubuc says in her first major interview. The Hollywood Reporter

Today's Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe. Share it with a friend. Looking for previous Broadsheets? Click here.