The Embrace Change Speakers Bureau: Black & Women of Color Speakers For Every Professional Event
I’ve got two scenarios for you.
The first: You’re at a panel or workshop at work or an industry conference and you’re attending talk after talk where the speakers are…not great. Boring, stuffy, monotone. Or maybe you expected to grow your skillset or knowledge gap at a particular workshop, only to be disappointed by the lack of practical application, concrete takeaways, or actual/energetic engagement from the “experts.”
Consider this other scenario: You’ve been tasked with organizing an event and selecting a keynote speaker, but everyone available is either exorbitantly priced, not experienced enough, or doesn’t reflect your audience. How do you plan/organize an event or training workshop that actually delivers?
I’ve gone through both of these scenarios multiple times in my 20-year career. And every time, the experience is lacking; in the former, you leave the talk unimpressed and maybe even a little…turned off by the event organizers, and in the latter, you’re disappointed and frustrated that you have to choose between options that all aren’t the right fit. I’ve scrolled speakers bureau websites and Googled around for engaging POC speakers. Speakers who can speak to the lived experience of our WOC clients and community.
Where were the speakers’ bureaus for Black, Latinx, and other WOC public speakers? Why was it so hard to find them centralized in one place? It seemed like there had to be a better way.
One morning, after having hired multiple women of color guest speakers to speak to the Leadership Accelerator cohorts and the Embrace Change team, I woke up, sat straight up in bed, and realized the answer was staring me right in the face. I know—and have worked with—dozens of award-winning, trailblazing thought leaders, subject matter experts, and entrepreneurs who are women of color.
And that’s how we ended up founding the…
Embrace Change Speakers Bureau: The Only Speakers Bureau Exclusively Amplifying the Voices of Women of Color—Tailored To Your Needs
With rates starting at $1,000, our professional development speakers not only have the skills and strategies for whatever you hope to cover, but they have the ability to keep even complex topics interactive and engaging, too. From small groups of ten to 2,000+ person audiences (both virtually and in person), these BIWOC and BIPOC speakers have done it all, centering their diverse lived experiences and a DEI lens along the way.
Fanny García
Already our speakers have spoken at Ogilvy, Columbia Business School, Youtube, Black Enterprise ...just to name a few. Their areas of expertise run the gamut from business and branding to social justice and—in Fanny García’s case—being an expert on interviewing and an internationally recognized leading voice on Applied Oral History.
A Honduran-American oral historian, Fanny wanted to leverage her extensive knowledge in her field to speak specifically with more women of color. She saw firsthand that WOC were “often isolated from others who are going through similar challenges related to recognition and advancement.” And after interviewing more than 200 people over two decades, she knew she’d have valuable perspectives to share with a larger audience.
In the last two months alone, Fanny’s spoken at Barnard College, American University, Pomona College, and more—specifically on the importance of documenting our daily lives and the art of storytelling and listening. (If you’d like to work with Fanny on elevating storytelling within your own organization—whether in a workshop or a breakout session—you can fill out the interest form here!)
Marina Girgis
Or consider another expert speaker, Marina Girgis, an Egyptian-born, US-based personal brand coach, strategist, and speaker focused on women entrepreneurs. Rather than droning on through lecturing, Marina’s style is “to get off-stage and speak directly to the audience…while making sure attendees leave feeling energized, inspired, and with an action plan.”
Having hosted sessions on personal branding in spaces like YouTube (on a training for African creators!), Marina infuses her personality with every tailored workshop by adding funny introspective stories, polls, and GIFs—not unlike my own style. (If you’re interested in curating a session with Marina, you can fill out this interest form.) Her favorite part of the Speakers Bureau is the support the team gives one another throughout the process, from helping to negotiate their worth to centering their cultural backgrounds and diverse voices.
The workplace has evolved rapidly in the last few years, with a heightened focus on employee engagement, retention, and quality learning and development. So whether you’re hoping to support a specific group of employees (i.e., budding leaders, new hires, or cross-functional teams) or activate your entire Fortune 500 company, we can create a one-of-a-kind teaching and training experience to fit your needs.
After all, you’ve got enough on your plate. And we’ve already done the job of identifying, vetting, and ideating for you. Let us do the heavy lifting for you—so you and your team can also enjoy, learn, and benefit from the expertise, wisdom, and insightful messages our WOC speakers have to offer.