MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will host woman’s equality activist Lilly Ledbetter as the next guest of its Distinguished Lecture Series on Tuesday, March 8.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Ledbetter also will talk with students and faculty at 3:30 p.m. Room 40 of the Valk Center.

Ledbetter landed her dream job in 1979 at the Goodyear tire company and was one of the first females to be hired at the management level. After nearly two decades at the company, however, she discovered she was receiving thousands of dollars less than her male peers.

Ledbetter fought the injustice, taking her case to the Supreme Court and eventually becoming the namesake of President Barack Obama’s first official piece of legislation in 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.

In 2012, Ledbetter authored “Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond,” which she reveals the trials she has faced in her life and how she overcame them. Ledbetter continues to fight for equal rights by encouraging other women and minorities to join the pursuit for equality.