TEDxNorwichED was the 2nd education event I’ve helped organise and the 2nd that has been criticised for lack of diversity in the speakers… And rightly so too!
How wonderful that no one can create an education event now, no matter who they are (3 teachers + me on a voluntary basis) and get away with lack of diversity.
The first event this happened for me was the Politics in Education Summit featuring the most knowledgeable and influential speakers on the topic the lady organising this could secure. Were they worthy? YES.
did ALL these amazing people creating these events agonise over lack of diversity? Yes.
Is there a simple way we can make sure authentic and diverse speakers hear of speaking opportunities at events in time to be fairly considered?
…I’ve been looking for this and would have paid for and/or promoted the provider of this service!
What if we set this up ourselves?
That’s the question Bukky, Allana, Jaz and I are exploring in THIS Public + Live meeting…
We could have done this privately via Skype but that wouldn’t be ‘10% braver’ (that’s the #WomenEd slogan in tribute to that amazing community in which we met) or all that inclusive given the sheer enthusiasm for this idea.
P.S. Only got 5 min? Here’s an awesomely inspiring 5 min video recently created by one of our co-hosts Jaz which very brilliantly sets the scene…