Wed, 8 May 2024
As a business, we are privileged to have featured 1,000s of leading industry voices on stage, on video, in reports, in blogs posts and more. Across financial services, fintech, digital identity, customer experience and beyond, and in different places around the world, we have brought together, both on stage and off, leading thinkers from a diverse range of industries.
Yet, despite our successes and the rapid growth of our communities, we have not achieved the level of diversity in some of our speaking facilities that we strive for. On the odd occasion when we find ourselves facing the dreaded ‘manel’, we grapple with a sense that we could have done more. But sometimes, try as we might, we simply don’t succeed. As any member of the team can share, there is nothing worse than someone pointing out the obvious – where is the diversity?
If the businesses we run don’t represent the communities in which we live and operate, that is a clear sign something is not functioning as it should. It means there is a barrier in place that needs to be addressed. Obviously, this is beyond the power of any individual or single enterprise to fix, but we all need to strive to have an impact within our areas of influence. And in our case, that is the make-up of our speaker line-ups.
We are delighted to launch a new initiative geared to bringing a more diverse set of voices to the work that we do. It is an initiative that relies on our community, as well as our own efforts. We are asking you to think about who you can support; who in your team or your network has valuable industry insights to share but has yet to be brought onto the radar of companies like ours?
To take that step on stage for the first time, you must be found to be heard.
Please use the form below to recommend a colleague who has not had the opportunity to participate in an industry event. We are keen to hear from them and, crucially, get them involved as a speaker. We will not stop in our efforts to bring diverse voices to our work and are grateful for your support in ensuring our activity is representative of the full range of communities we serve.
Looking to the future
Looking ahead, we would like to incorporate future activities built around our diversity goals. We will keep you posted as those are developed but do share your ideas and feedback. We are committed to taking steps to ensure that the speaker line-ups we put together reflect the world around us.