
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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