NEWIEE and the American Association of Blacks in Energy, Greater Boston Chapter (AABE) came together for Your Worth, Your Wealth: Mastering Pay Negotiation, a practical workshop on understanding the pay gap and asking for what you’re worth. Attendees heard from two speakers:

• Sabrina Correia, Executive Financial Education Coach at STC Coaching and VP of Corporate Responsibility, New England, at JPMorgan Chase
• Ayanna Polk, Director of Communications at MassINC

Here’s a look at what we covered.

The numbers: pay disparities in Greater Boston

The session opened with a clear-eyed look at local data from the Boston Women’s Workforce Council (BWWC) Annual Report. Among participating employers, women earn 88 cents for every dollar of White men’s average base compensation, and the racial pay gap for Asians, Hispanics, and Blacks stands at 69 cents for every dollar of White men’s average base compensation.

Why these gaps matter

A middle-class lifestyle is expensive, especially in Massachusetts. According to MassINC’s model, the annual income benchmark for a working-age single adult is $82,000–$91,000, depending on household circumstances. Yet only about 30% of Massachusetts jobs pay at the top of that range (roughly $90,000).

The wealth picture is even starker. Estimated median family net wealth in Massachusetts:

• White families: $549,200
• Asian/NHPI families: $305,000
• Black families: $7,800
• Hispanic families: $1,200

Sources: MassINC Policy Center, Massachusetts Middle Class Status Report (2026); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Mass ECHOS (2026). Wealth figures are survey estimates, aren’t gender-specific, and aren’t directly comparable to payroll data.

Our speakers were clear on one point: pay negotiation is one tool for improving compensation, not a standalone solution to structural inequality. But it’s a tool worth using well.

Do the research first

Strong negotiations start with good information. The speakers recommended:

• Knowing the range through sites like salary.com and payscale.com
• Checking industry-specific job boards to get a feel for salaries in your field
• Using your network, since professional events are a great way to hear about opportunities
• Looking at the big picture, because salary is only one part of an offer, and the benefits package matters too

Know your worth

The most important part of any negotiation is to know your worth before going in. Your lived experiences bring value and perspective to your work. Knowing how to voice this can help strengthen your ask. One way to start is a short professional vision statement that names who you want to be known as, the skills you bring, and the impact you want to make.

Research tells you what the market pays. Knowing your worth helps you make your case.

Thank you to Sabrina Correia and Ayanna Polk for sharing their expertise and making the workshop so interactive. Thank you to our partners at AABE Greater Boston, to the Center for Economic and Social Justice at Roxbury Community College for hosting us, and to everyone who joined us and brought great questions.

Also of Interest

• Join NEWIEE
• NEWIEE Event Calendar
• NEWIEE Jobs Board