
Startup Grind Global Conference

Tech and venture capital conversations shouldn't happen without women and non-binary individuals.
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.
1 in 4
14%
68%
3 to 1
Do not host manels (all-male panels). All-male panels with a female moderator are still manels.
Balance your speaker lineup by striving for a 50/50 split of men and women. Be mindful about including non-binary individuals as well.
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+).
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.
Publish percentage breakdowns of gender, race/ethnicity, and other demographic categories for your events. You can’t change what you don’t measure.
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.
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.
Aim to interview, source, and quote people from underrepresented groups.
Bring female voices into stories across industries and topics, without relegating those voices to stories about diversity or women’s issues.
Do not pose questions or use descriptors for one gender that are not equally applicable to another.
Commit to surveying editorial content regularly for distribution of subjects, voices, and sources between men, women, and other groups.
Make sure you’re using the correct pronouns for your speakers.
When addressing the audience, use gender-neutral terms (“Welcome, friends” or “Welcome, everyone” instead of “Ladies and gentlemen.”).
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.
Ask event organizers about the diversity of their speakers before committing to be a speaker.
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.
Regularly recommend and forward speaking and media opportunities to women and other underrepresented people.
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.
Explore the Speakers Bureau
Prospective Speakers
We are looking for speakers with at least 3 previously published interviews or speaking engagements, including VC investors who are generally at the Senior Associate level and above, and tech startup founders and operators with leadership experience in a wide range of industries. We make our acceptance decisions based on speakers’ industry expertise as well as demonstrated speaking and media experience. We also consider the overall representation of sectors, industries, and various demographics (e.g. race/ethnicity, LGBTQIA+, disability).
All Raise evaluates all submissions to ensure that applicants are qualified and adhere to our values. Accepted applicants will be displayed in the database. Click below to apply.
Media Partners
Visionary Voices is an ongoing resource for you! As you are planning your event or working on a story, please refer to the Visionary Voices page here, where you can search for experts by criteria like founder/funder/operator, sector, industry, company, title, etc. Please reach out directly to any of the individuals on the Visionary Voices page via the contact information provided.
We look forward to announcing more media and conference partners committed to a diversity of voices in the coming months. If your organization would like to be a media partner, we invite you to click below for more information.
Donation Amount
All Raise is a 501(c)(3) organization, EIN# 83-0566054.
Your tax-deductible donation will be used to support the staffing of our organization, software, events, and the success of our key initiatives for female founders and funders.