WASHINGTON — Thousands ran the HerStory 5K down Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday morning in celebration of Women’s History Month.
Dawn Alexander of Southeast Washington made sure she and her friends wore pink tutus. She attended the event virtually last year.
“Personally I like fuchsia pink, and I just thought we’d look real cute if we got these tutus, that’s what we did so here we are,” she said.
“We’re all in our 50s and it’s inspiring [that] we as a people are getting together to focus on our health.”
Dressed up and finally with somewhere to go: The starting line for the Fit DC HerStory 5K, live and in-person, recognizing women’s history month.
Sesliegh Saucier says she and her daughter love being women in D.C.
“I think it’s an amazing city to live in I feel safe and supported and I’ve enjoyed my time here for the last two years,” she said.
However, the wage gap remains significant in D.C.
The National Women’s Law Center found that D.C. has the widest wage gap specifically for Black women, making 49 cents for every dollar that a white non-Hispanic man makes.
“We are creating jobs in D.C., we are the best city in the nation for women entrepreneurs and we’re constantly training our residents for good paying jobs,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. “We had 10,000 people apply for 500 D.C. government jobs and we want to encourage people to keep looking and work with us.”
The Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives offers trainings to help women secure higher wages.
“We’re excited to partner to offer wage negotiation training for free for district women, because we know that the more women earn, the more their families can thrive,” said executive director Jennifer Porter.
Women focused on closing the gap and crossing the finish line, in every month including March.