152 speakers you need at your next journalism event to avoid all-male panels

Credit: Photo by spanner on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

You only need glance at the All Male Panels Tumblr to see the lack of gender diversity still evident in public events.

And while women have been vocal on this issue for some time, men are now beginning to add their voices to the protest too, with past examples of popular speakers vowing not to sit on or moderate panels that were not diverse enough.

2023 must be the year we relegate all-male panels to the Mad Men era where they belong.

To help with this (long-overdue) task, below is a list of women and non-binary journalists, editors, and executives who are among the best in their field – and would be brilliant speakers for your next media event.

We carefully curated this list with input from Twitter, Facebook Groups, and some of the many conferences attended by the Journalism.co.uk team.

This list is by no means exhaustive. If there is anyone you think we have missed and would like us to add them to the list, do let us know by tweeting @journalismnews.

And because diversity is not just about gender, we have recommended more resources at the end of this article for building inclusive events where everybody's voice is made to feel welcome.

Editors and executives (43)

Jo Adetunji, editor, The Conversation UK | UK

Heba Aly, CEO, The New Humanitarian | Switzerland

Jane Barrett, global editor, media news strategy, Reuters | UK

Katherine Bell, editor-in-chief, Goldman Sachs | USA

Rozina Breen, editor-in-chief, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism | UK

Sally Buzbee, executive editor, Washington Post | USA

Gina Chua, executive editor, Semafor | USA

Audrey Cooper, editor-in-chief, WNYC | USA

Alessandra Galloni, global news editor, Reuters | UK

Janine Gibson, assistant editor, Financial Times | UK

Alison Gow, audience and content director, North West, Reach plc | UK

Cory Haik, chief operating officer, Vice Media | USA

Liv Håker, head of digital development, Sunnmørsposten | Norway

Blathnaid Healy, executive news editor, growth and social, BBC News | UK

Charo Henríquez, editor, newsroom development and support, The New York Times | USA

Liz Heron, independent strategic adviser; board of directors, Coda Story | USA

Stacy-Marie Ishmael, managing editor for crypto, Bloomberg News | USA

S. Mitra Kalita, co-founder, URL Media | USA

Sara Kehaulani Goo, editor-in-chief, Axios | USA

Lexie Kirkconnel-Kawana, deputy CEO, IMPRESS | UK

Roula Khalaf, editor, Financial Times | UK

Angie Lau, co-founder, editor-in-chief, Forkast.News | Hong Kong

Amy Lewin, editor, Sifted | UK

Sara Lomax-Reese, president and CEO, WURD Radio | USA

Nathalie Malinarich, executive news editor, BBC News | UK

Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief, The Economist | UK

Amy O'Leary, interim executive director and communications One Project | Germany

Tobi Oredein, founder of Black Ballad | UK

Naomi Owusu, CEO, Tickaroo | Germany

Julie Pace, executive editor, Associated Press | USA

Allison Phillips, editor, The Mirror | UK

Emily Ramshaw, co-founder and CEO, The 19th News | USA

Maria Ressa, CEO, Rappler | The Philippines

Claire Sanderson, editor-in-chief, Women's Health | UK

Emily Sexton-Brown, managing editor, Business Insider | UK

Gillian Tett, chair, FT Editorial Board; co-founder FT Moral Money | USA

Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief, Wall Street Journal | USA

Deborah Turness, CEO, BBC News and Current Affairs | UK

Katie Vanneck-Smith, CEO, Hearst | UK

Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, Guardian | UK

Mary Walter-Brown, founder and CEO, News Revenue Hub | USA

Janine Warner, executive director, Sembra Media | USA

Yehong Zhu, founder and CEO, Zette | USA

Emerging media, multimedia, mobile and future tech (15)

Nadine Ajaka, executive producer, visual forensics, Washington Post | USA

Sarah Cohen, knight chair in data journalism, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University | USA

Alex Newman, world visuals editor, The Wall Street Journal | USA

Alexandra Manzano, managing editor, content, strategy and platforms, Politico | USA

Sumaiya Omar, founder, Seen (formerly Hashtag our Stories) | UK

Nonny de la Peña, founder and CEO of Emblematic Group | USA

Latoya Peterson, cofounder, CXO, Glow Up Games | USA

Lauren Rabaino, chief of staff, Vox | USA

Bianca-Maria Rathay, freelance iPhone videographer | Germany

Mary-Ann Russon, tech journalist | UK

Caroline Scott, mobile journalist, LumaFusion | USA

Farrah Storr, head of writer partnerships, Substack UK | UK

Sarah Tuttle-Singer, new media editor, The Times of Israel blog | Israel

Amy Webb, CEO and founder, The Future Today Institute | USA

Carla Zanoni, head of audience, marketing and analytics, TED | USA

Social media and video (22)

Waad Al-Kateab, filmmaker, Channel 4 | UK

Emma Bentley, journalist, The News Movement | UK

Malika Bilal, host of The Take, al Jazeera | USA

Deborah Bonello, senior editor, VICE World News | Mexico

Gloria Cheung, social editor, Bloomberg | UK

Kassy Cho, journalist and audience strategist | Taiwan

Cynthia Collins, social media editor, The New York Times | USA

Shivani Dave, co-presenter, Openly | UK

Ann Derry, independent executive producer | USA

Barkha Dutt, editor, Mojo | India

Sian Elvin, deputy news editor, Metro | UK

Joanna Geary, former senior director of curation, Twitter | UK

Sue Llewellyn, social media coach and consultant; founder and CEO, Ultra Social | UK

Erika Marzano, audience engagement, social media, Deutsche Welle | Germany

Tara Mulholland, senior social media journalist CNN International | UK

Monika Plaha, journalist and presenter, BBC News | UK

Corinne Podger, media trainer specialising in mobile journalism, podcasts, social media and media revenue | Australia

Hannah Ray, director of brand and community, Beams | UK

Rachel Rodriguez, product content operations lead, Meta | UK

Chandni Sembhi, senior producer, Pink News | UK

Sophia Smith Galer, senior news reporter, Vice News | UK

Holly Wong, senior social media editor, GAY TIMES | UK

Audience engagement and analytics (22)

Avery Anapol, commissioning editor, the Conversation UK | UK

Melissa Bell, founder, Vox | USA

P. Kim Bui, director of audience innovation, AZ Central | USA

Jennifer Brandel, founder and CEO, Hearken | USA

Kate Day, executive editor, UK, Politico Europe | UK/Brussels

Sofia Delgado, deputy head of audience, Metro | UK

Ethar El-Katatney, news product strategy lead, Bloomberg | USA/Egypt

Mary Hamilton, global operations, Audible | UK

Blair Hickman, managing editor, Vox | USA

Jo Kelly, director of news and sport partnerships, EMEA, Twitter (UK)

Adriana Lacy, independent consultant | USA

Denise Law, product manager, Facebook | UK

Lisa Macleod, head of EMEA engagement, FT Strategies | UK

Sarah Marshall, head of audience growth, Vogue Global Network, Condé Nast; director of Hacks/Hackers London | UK

Irene McKisson, principal executive and cofounder, AZ Luminaria | USA

Amalie Nash, senior vice president, local news, USA Today | USA

Isabelle Roughol, director of audience and revenue, The New Humanitarian | UK

Jess Shaw, director of audience, San Francisco Chronicle | USA

Elinor Shields, head of audience engagement, BBC News | UK

Alexandra Smith, audience director, The 19th News | USA

Madeleine White, head of international, Poool | France

Amanda Zamora, co-founder, The 19th News | USA

Data and investigative journalism (8)

Florencia Coelho, new media research and training manager, La Nación | Argentina

Eva Constantaras, data editor, Lighthouse Reports | Greece

Jennifer LaFleur, data editor, Investigative Reporting Workshop | USA

Claire Miller, editor, Reach data unit, Reach plc | UK

Amy Pyle, national investigations editor, USA Today | USA

Angelica Peralta Ramos, data project manager, La Nación | Argentina

Giannina Segnini, journalism professor at Columbia University | USA

Lam Thuy Vo, data journalist in residence, CUNY | USA

Podcasting and broadcast (13)

Anna Doble, digital editor, BBC World Service | UK

Arielle Duhaime-Ross, correspondent and host of VICE News podcast | USA

Ann Friedman, co-host of Call Your Girlfriend podcast | USA

Anya Grundmann, senior vice president for programming and audience development, NPR | USA

Esther Kezia Thorpe, media analyst; co-host, Media Voices | UK

Theodora Louloudis, originals producer, Wondery | USA

Imriel Morgan, CEO, Content Is Queen | UK

Nadia Reiman, reporter and producer, This American Life | USA

Kellie Riordan, director and founder, Deadset Studios | Australia

Julie Shapiro, executive creative directo, Novel | USA

Laura Shin, host of Unchained podcast | USA

Sandra Sperber, head of audio department, Spiegel Online | Germany

Kara Swisher, host of "On With Kara Swisher" podcast by New York Magazine | USA

Leadership, diversity and mental health (29)

Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams, editor, newsroom diversity, Reuters | UK

Nikki Akinola, senior diversity and inclusion officer, NCTJ | UK

Catalina Albeanu, editor, DoR | Romania

Charlotte Armitage, media psychologist and psychotherapist | UK

Emily Bell, director, Tow Centre for Digital Journalism | USA

Mar Cabra, co-founder, The Self-Investigation | Spain

Federica Cherubini, director of leadership development, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism | UK

Madalina Ciobanu, research director, Sembra Media | UK

Olivia Crellin, CEO, Presspad | UK

Catherine Edwards, independent editorial consultant | UK

Jo Healy, founder and director, Trauma Work | UK

Jodie Jackson, academic and author "You Are What You Read" | UK

Olivia James, performance and confidence coach | UK

Sasha Koren, independent consultant, journalist and digital strategist | USA

Lucy Küng, senior fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism | UK

Joy Mayer, director, Trusting News | USA

Naja Nielsen, digital director, BBC News | UK

Anne-Sophie Novel, journalist and author "The Media, The World And Me" | France

Laura Oliver, freelance journalist; co-founder, Society of Freelance Journalists; reporter, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism | UK

Julie Posetti, global director of research, International Center for Journalists | UK

Dhruti Shah, independent consultant | UK

Hannah Storm, co-founder, Headlines Network | UK

Inga Thordar, strategic advisor for digital/sustainability transformations | UK

Claire Wardle, co-founder and director, First Draft News | USA

Sisi Wei, director of programs, Open News | USA

Dr Rebecca Whittington, online safety editor, Reach plc | UK

Dr Sian Williams, psychologist and journalist | UK

Anita Zielina, executive in residence, CUNY | USA/Austria

Zuzanna Ziomecka, mindfulness coach | Poland

Other resources

• Non-white speakers for your next journalism event

• Poynter Diversity Bibliography

• Media Diversified: Experts Directory

• Journalism Diversity Project

Update: This article was updated by Jacob Granger and Marcela Kunova on 8 March 2023 to reflect changes in women's career history. The original version published on 7 June 2016

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