The film “Lilly” held its world premiere at Guild Hall in East Hampton at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 10. Veteran television director Rachel Feldman’s directorial debut film stars Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Clarkson as Lilly Ledbetter. Ledbetter took her fight for equal pay all the way to the United States Supreme Court and then to the United States Congress. Her work resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama.
1919 Investment Counsel joined as a partner for the “Lilly” premiere. We spoke with CEO Harry O’Mealia and Principal & Senior Client Advisor Jennifer Evans about their commitment to advancing women’s wealth management and supporting female-driven stories. Their goal in partnering with the “Lilly” world premiere event was to champion storytelling and the distinct financial needs of women across all life stages.
1919 Investment Counsel has been a proud supporter of the film “Lilly.” What drew your team to get involved with this project?
Harry: It’s a combination of intent or purpose and luck. At 1919, we’ve managed money for individuals and families for over a hundred years, and the basic premise behind our firm is understanding who the client is, what brings them here, what need they’re asking us to address. A few years ago, Jennifer came to me and said, “We really need to do a better job specifically addressing women’s needs, women’s goals.” For about five or six years now, Jennifer and her team have been working on research on women’s financial challenges and putting together a program that is specific to women.
Jennifer’s idea resonated with me as a result of a personal experience. It is important to be a male ally and to champion women… My dad died young. My mother was a 46-year-old widow, and we had a family business. I’d just turned 22 at the time. My dad did a great job with the family, with the business, but there were things we weren’t really prepared for. And, as my mother and I embarked on running the business, dealing with finances, and supporting the family, it was very apparent to me that right off the bat, people turned to me, not to her, very quickly as the decisionmaker — presumably because I was male.
A tangible example of what we were facing was that she couldn’t get credit because everything had been in my dad’s name. I was receiving incoming invitations for American Express, Visa, and Mastercard. My mother couldn’t get a credit card, and I could. I was a recent college graduate. My mother had 30 or 40 years of experience. But, because she was female, she was cast to the side, and I just thought, “This is strange and isn’t right.”
Lilly’s experience aligned to an extent with what I’d seen in my life. I’d gone to college, 50 percent of my class were women. In graduate school, 50 percent were women. Watching people’s journeys — who stayed in the workforce and were getting promoted, I saw a lot of inequity. I began to realize that, like my mother, my female colleagues faced a different set of challenges or circumstances than I had.
Jennifer, as head of Women & Wealth, how does your work align with the themes of gender equality and fair pay championed by Lilly Ledbetter’s story?
Jennifer: This is such an exciting time to not only invest in women but also men and really highlight Lilly’s story. I learned from Lilly just how much the long game matters and how loudly actions speak. We have to keep moving forward to attain a goal as far as women and wealth taking action.
Having this conversation today is empowering women. I think the phrase “empowering women” can sometimes seem like a cliche, but what I mean by that is we help women on their financial journey with different perspectives, really understand their individual goals and their values, and walk alongside them on their journey. Keeping this conversation alive is important, which I think Lilly has done with gender equality and equal pay.
One part is the empowerment of women financially. We have a responsible investing team that stems back to the 1970s. Our Women & Wealth team helped to create the Inclusive Investing Strategy. It’s focused on companies whose business models — from products to workplace culture — look at a just and inclusive world.
And it’s interesting that out of the companies we’re looking at today, 79 percent of them are focused on equal pay. So, when clients are looking for a portfolio that is aligned with their values or beliefs, we have a strategy to understand which companies actually support those values or principles of equity.
What does Lilly mean to you? The human being, but also the story, the film, the book. What does it mean to you on a personal level?
Jennifer: Lilly is a true inspiration to me. Her perseverance is remarkable. It would’ve been easy to quit. A lot of people would be stuck or depressed or sad. There was a determination and a fire under her that kept her going — the passion and her drive for all of us. It encourages me, and I would say our whole Women & Wealth team at the firm, to keep doing what we’re doing. It is going to take a collective effort to move the needle and to rise the tide.
Harry: My wife and I have three daughters and a daughter-in-law, too, who are in the workforce. I just thought this was an acknowledgment of who they are and what they may be facing. They’re at this point in their careers where they’re fighting their way through and dealing with what you have to deal with to have a successful career. Because of what I’ve seen and learned, I know their challenges are different than those my son and I have faced. I think that their father and their husband should be on the same side of this issue as they are. You have to do what’s right in life. Lilly was a good example of that to me, and I’m proud to play a part in bringing her story to the fore.