Overview
Overview:
The Women Speaker Initiative aims to increase the number of women and people of color speaking at conferences and companies, as well as ensure that women and POC speakers have the tools necessary to get paid competitively as compared to their male colleagues.
The Women Speaker Initiative achieves this by matching aspiring speakers (specifically women and people of color) with other experienced professional speakers that have 2-3 (or more) years of experience getting paid to speak, so that these experienced professional speakers can provide advice and guidance to aspiring speakers about: 1. how to book more gigs and gain more speaking experience, 2. how to gain the confidence to ask for money, and 3. how to price your talks competitively in an industry where women/POC are consistently underpaid.
Speaker mentors are not compensated; they are simply donating their time to empower others and spread the love. Each mentor does a 60 min. group mentoring phone/video conference call every 2 months with several (3-10) participants. Whenever possible, aspiring speakers are matched with a mentor who is an expert in a related subject area. Calls are usually recorded and distributed for those who cannot make it.
Details:
- Length: Varies, check site
- Apply: Varies, check site
Spud’s Thoughts:
As someone who runs a bunch of events, this issue is really important to me. I am constantly looking for ways to bring more diversity and a range of perspective into the workshops I run and speakers I invite to my retreats. Having a representative facilitator/speaker team is critical, especially when talking about issues of social justice. Keep up the great work Smiley!!
