Visionary Voices Speakers Bureau

Tech and venture capital conversations shouldn't happen without women and non-binary individuals.

Elevating Underrepresented Leaders

Women and non-binary individuals are significantly underrepresented in conversations about tech and venture capital — both at conferences and in media coverage. This perpetuates a cycle where they don’t have the same access as men to opportunities and networks to build social and financial capital. It shouldn’t be this way.

Introducing the All Raise Visionary Voices speakers bureau

We aim to increase diverse representation at events and in media coverage by making speakers and sources readily available to event organizers and reporters, complete with self-identified demographic information to make sure it’s radically inclusive. Today, our bureau features nearly 1,000 extraordinary female or non-binary founders, investors, and operators from across the venture-backed tech ecosystem who are visionary leaders and domain experts. And we’re just getting started.

Explore

Partners committed to equitable events and reporting

We’re proud that many reputable partners are publicly committing to this important mission. In particular, we are thrilled that the world's leading progressive business media publication Fast Company is supporting the program. Additionally, early partners include new media startup Protocol and some of the largest tech industry conferences including SaaStr and Startup Grind. We look forward to announcing more media and conference partners committed to a diversity of voices in the coming months.

Become a partner

1 in 4

tech event speakers are women
14%

of keynote speakers at tech conferences are women of color
68%

of keynote speakers at tech conferences are white men
3 to 1

Men outnumber women in media coverage

Principles for Equitable Events and Reporting

Event organizers

No Manels

Do not host manels (all-male panels). All-male panels with a female moderator are still manels.
Strive for Balance

Balance your speaker lineup by striving for a 50/50 split of men and women. Be mindful about including non-binary individuals as well.
Elevate the Underrepresented

Avoid hosting panels where all the speakers are white. Make sure a large percentage of your event’s speakers are from groups that are particularly underrepresented in tech and VC (e.g. Black, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+).
Know your demographics

Track demographic categories of your speakers by asking them to voluntarily self-identify. Be upfront that their personal information will be kept strictly confidential while the aggregated data will be used to help you improve your future events.
Share your numbers

Publish percentage breakdowns of gender, race/ethnicity, and other demographic categories for your events. You can’t change what you don’t measure.
Create a code of conduct

Require all event speakers and attendees to sign a code of conduct and anti-harassment policy to ensure you’re creating a safe, welcoming space for everyone. Here’s an example.

Media

Balance your sources

Balance your sources and quotes by striving for a 50/50 split of men and women. Be mindful about including non-binary individuals as well.
Diversify your commentary

Aim to interview, source, and quote people from underrepresented groups.
Steer clear of tokenism

Bring female voices into stories across industries and topics, without relegating those voices to stories about diversity or women’s issues.
Avoid stereotyping

Do not pose questions or use descriptors for one gender that are not equally applicable to another.
Evaluate your efforts

Commit to surveying editorial content regularly for distribution of subjects, voices, and sources between men, women, and other groups.

Moderators

Know speakers' pronouns

Make sure you’re using the correct pronouns for your speakers.
Use gender-neutral terms

When addressing the audience, use gender-neutral terms (“Welcome, friends” or “Welcome, everyone” instead of “Ladies and gentlemen.”).
Don't single out or tokenize speakers

Ask similar questions of your speakers. Don’t relegate female speakers to answering questions on “women’s issues” or single out Black, Latinx, or other speakers from underrepresented groups by only asking them about diversity and inclusion.

Speakers

Inquire about diversity

Ask event organizers about the diversity of their speakers before committing to be a speaker.
Just say no to manels

Refuse to speak on any all-male panels.
Create opportunities for others

If you are an experienced, sought after speaker, leverage your influence to ask event organizers to invite women and other underrepresented people to be speakers as a condition of your participation.
Share your mic

Regularly recommend and forward speaking and media opportunities to women and other underrepresented people.
Proactively answer DEI questions

If you're not from an underrepresented group, on panels, proactively answer questions about diversity and inclusion instead of leaving them for women and other people from underrepresented groups, as diversity is a shared goal.

Tweet This

#NoMoreManels, no more excuses! #VisionaryVoices speakers bureau features nearly 1,000 female/non-binary founders, funders, and operators.

Check out events from our partners

Partner Events