State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg has announced the formation of the Advisory Committee on Wage Equality, a statewide effort to address the wage gap between men and women in Massachusetts.

“Pay equity is not a partisan issue, nor solely a women’s issue. It is a family issue, and it affects the economic health and well-being of our entire state,” Goldberg said in a statement. “This committee will develop concrete strategies and highlight best practices from both the private and public sectors, so that the commonwealth can address this critical economic issue and lead the nation in implementing wage equality initiatives.”

Compared with men, women in Massachusetts earn 82 cents on the dollar, African-American women earn 61 cents and Latina woman earn 50 cents, according to a press release from the Treasurer’s Office.

The committee will focus on five central goals, according to the Treasurer’s Office:

• Providing government agencies with tools to review their pay structure;
• Developing a wage equality tool kit for businesses who want to enact equal pay;
• Planning a statewide conference for April 2016, that will allow policymakers, businesses and organizations together to discuss best practices for closing the wage gap;
• Organizing regional roundtables across the state to get input from businesses on how to make a public-private partnership work;
• Launching a state-run equal pay website, which will serve as a one-stop shop for employers and employees.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh will serve as the honorary chair of the Advisory Committee on Wage Equality, and Former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy will serve as a senior advisor. Other members of the committee include CEO of the Women’s Fund of Massachusetts Elizabeth Barajas-Roman, Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Tufts Health Plan CEO James Roosevelt Jr.

“Closing the wage gap is not just simply about increasing women’s salaries, it’s complex, and must be tackled for women, and for families,” Walsh said in a statement. “This is government leading by example, working to change the culture around women’s pay, and moving the conversation forward.”