Pass the Mic

Looking to make your next business event more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming? There’s no better place to start than with your speakers. We’ve hand-picked a few who may fly under the radar in the speaker circuit but raise the bar in making events more diverse — and way more interesting.

Anka Wittenberg

Wittenberg, the former SAP global chief diversity and inclusion officer, is active with UN Women helping to drive United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. During her time at SAP, Wittenberg helped launch SAP Autism at Work, which aimed to help individuals with autism find employment opportunities.

January 13, 2019

Reshma Saujani

Saujani’s Girls Who Code is a nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology. It has already reached 90,000 girls across the United States.

January 13, 2019

Bozoma Saint John

Trailblazing marketing and advertising executive “Boz” Saint John is CMO for Endeavor, with previous stints at Pepsi, Uber, Apple, and iTunes. St. John, whom Buzzfeed called the “coolest person to ever go on stage at an Apple event,” spent part of her childhood in Ghana and Kenya before returning to the States where, to fit in, she “studied pop culture like it was a PhD.”

January 5, 2019

Tamika Catchings

Teased about her hearing aids and speech as a child, self-described “shy kid” Catchings went on to WNBA and Olympic glory and is now sharing her inspirational story as a keynote speaker. She’s currently the VP of basketball operations for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and is the founder of the Catch the Stars Foundation.

January 5, 2019

Chip Conley

Conley, the hospitality industry entrepreneur who is currently an adviser to Airbnb, heads the Modern Elder Academy, described as the world’s first “midlife wisdom school.” In his book Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, Conley created four stages — Evolve, Learn, Collaborate, and Counsel — through which individuals can learn to become modern elders on their own.

January 5, 2019

Connie Chi

Chi is the founder and CEO of The Chi Group, a global agency that aims to humanize brands. She also hosts “The Brand Academy Podcast” and is an author whose books include Branding Without A Brand: Taking Your Brand From Zero to Hero.

January 5, 2019

Rania Anderson

Anderson says her goal is “to transform the way men and women work and lead together.” The angel investor is also an author with her latest book titled WE: Men, Women, and The Decisive Formula for Winning at Work.

January 5, 2019

Lee Papa

Papa is a mindfulness and meditation speaker and trainer, specializing in the meetings and events industry. Papa, who says she is on a mission to support mindful meetings and provide wellness globally, delivers a keynote titled “How to Live & Lead Mindfully” and she created the MINDFULNESS LOUNGE™.

January 5, 2019

Patti Temple Rocks

Temple Rocks is a communications professional with decades of experience in senior leadership roles. Her book, I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace, was published last year. She battles age discrimination and seeks to help people understand how it harms individuals, businesses, and society.

January 5, 2019

Michael Tubbs

Tubbs in 2019 won the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award and in 2017 was on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. The Stanford graduate was elected mayor of Stockton in 2016 at age 26, becoming the youngest mayor in U.S. history of a city with a population of at least 100,000.

January 5, 2019

Tinna C. Nielsen

Nielsen is the founder of the nonprofit Move the Elephant for Inclusiveness, which the organization’s website says, “moves people to redesign decision-making, organizations, and societies.”  She is the former global head of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration at Arla Foods, an international cooperative based in Denmark.

January 5, 2019

Tahira Endean

Endean is head of events at SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence) and author of Intentional Event Design: Our Professional Opportunity. She creates — and educates others about — human-centered events that draw on her fascination with neuroscience and the power of the senses to enhance memory.

January 5, 2019

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