Pasadena officials and filmmakers highlight Lily Ledbetter story as city signs California Equal Pay pledge

California First Partner Jennifer Seel Newsome opened a Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women event by urging employers to join the California Equal Pay Pledge and called pay equity “core to your values.” She invited attendees to sign at women.ca.gov/equalpay and said the pledge signals public leadership on fair pay.

Vice Mayor Jess Rivas, representing Pasadena’s District 5, told attendees the city had recently signed the pledge and thanked City Human Resources and the commission for their work. "We're very proud that we now are signatories to the pledge," Rivas said, asking the audience to applaud staff who helped make it happen.

The event centered on clips from the new feature film Lily and a panel of local and legal experts who tied the film’s story to current practice and law. Moderator Xandre Peralta, vice chair of the Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women, framed the program around three goals: awareness, accountability and action.

Tiffany Jacobs Quinn, director of human resources for the City of Pasadena, described how public-sector transparency and defined job classifications help limit pay gaps in government employment. "At the City of Pasadena we have about 2,200 employees. Only 35% of the employees are women," she said, and pointed to recruitment programs such as a women’s fire academy to increase representation in higher-paid roles.

Employment attorney Janette Laba traced how secrecy and subjective evaluations have historically allowed pay disparities to persist. "The corporations benefit from the silence," Laba said, arguing that transparency and legal enforcement are essential to change. She summarized recent California reforms and said, effective Jan. 1, 2026, workers have expanded rights in pay-discrimination claims and "you have up to 3 years" to bring certain claims under state law.

Panelists and audience members repeatedly returned to practical barriers: workers who do not know their rights, cultures that discourage pay conversations, and penalties – especially the motherhood penalty – that shape career trajectories. An audience member from an engineering background described an early-career offer in which two male colleagues received $10,000 more than she was offered; another attendee, Briana (who works with Day One), described not knowing how to question pay as a young worker.

Filmmaker Rachel Feldman, director of Lily, explained she made the film to show how one person’s persistent legal and public fight exposed systemic unfairness and helped change federal law. Panelists noted organizations such as the National Women’s Law Center and the ACLU historically supported plaintiffs like Lily Ledbetter, covering travel and other costs to enable litigation and public advocacy.

Organizers closed the formal program by inviting attendees to community resource tables and thanking sponsors and city staff. Commissioner Jennifer Tibo was asked to usher the audience into the event’s community engagement portion, where local groups including Pasadena Federal Credit Union, the Junior League of Pasadena, Pasadena City College, the Pasadena Fire Department and others hosted tables with information and services.

What happens next: panelists urged workers to learn their rights, encouraged employers to post good-faith pay scales for posted jobs, and called for continued recruitment and cultural change to address representation in higher-paid roles. The formal program concluded with resources and networking; the commission transitioned attendees to the community engagement portion of the event.