The Pledge

“At a public conference I won’t serve on a panel of two people or more unless there is at least one woman on the panel, not including the Chair.”

Make The Pledge

At a public conference I won’t serve on a panel of two people or more unless there is at least one woman on the panel, not including the Chair

**your signature**

BCC yourself

2,370 signatures

Frequently asked questions

What happens if we have tried to find women but there is nobody available?

Try harder. I’ll be happy to suggest some women who would be much better than me. You may need to organise your conference a little earlier to be sure of getting women on your panels.

What happens if a woman drops out and we end up with a men-only panel?

There are many brilliant women – please find someone else to take her place.

What if a woman drops out at very short notice?

I get it: shit happens. You could cover yourself by planning to have two women on the panel (gosh!). But if I’ve agreed to be on a panel I won’t let you down if something genuinely unforseen happens. (But if this means a male-only panel, you’ll have to forgive me in advance for the fact that I am going to tease you about this in the meeting.)

Organising conferences is hard enough already?

The Gendered Conference Campaign has some great advice for conference organisers.

What else can we do?

Keep drawing attention to the issue. If you are at a conference with male-only panels, call it out.
Audit your events and keep track of the trends
Be mindful about promoting women through social media

Who has taken the pledge?

Latest Signatures
2,370	Ms Meera Shenoy
2,369	Mr Brooke Patterson	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,368	Ms Ariel Delaney
2,367	Mr Prabir Borooah	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,366	Mr Matthew Bohan	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,365	Ms Jamie Zimmerman	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,364	Dr. MARIANA BROENS	Sao Paulo State University - UNESP
2,363	Mr Jason Lamb	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,362	Dr. Sara Escalona	Doctor
2,361	Mr Jeremiah Grossman
2,360	Mr Azeez Gupta	Rocket Learning
2,359	Mr Himanshu Nagpal	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,358	Ms Maria May	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2,357	Mr Daniel Radcliffe
2,356	Dr. Kanwaljit Singh	Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2,355	Mr Mohammed Ahmed
2,354	Mr Robin Sukhia
2,353	Ms Arati Davis	Sweden India Business Council
2,352	Ms Urvashi Devidayal	Sankalp Forum
2,351	Ms Neelam Pandita
2,350	Ms Maria Gracea
2,349	Mr Ashok Kumar E R	President, GiveIndia
2,348	Ms Sartiah Yusran	Univ Halu Oleo Kendari
2,347	Dr. Kevin Caliendo	Rose State College
2,346	Ms Krishna Patel
2,345	Mr Ben Johnson	Johns Hopkins University SOM
2,344	Ms Anna Marie Young	Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
2,343	Ms Dana Goplerud	Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
2,342	Mr Rohit Thapa	Learning Links Foundation
2,341	Dr. Vishal Dev Shastri	ALIVE & THRIVE
2,340	Miss Sarah Quinn	London School of Economics
2,339	Ms Nursyahbani Katjasungkana	Indonesian Legal Aid Association for Women
2,338	Mr maurits van der Vlugt
2,337	Dr. Tom Wakeford	ETC Group
2,336	Dr. Michael Netzel	The University of Queensland
2,335	Dr. Nima Gunness
2,334	Dr. Daniel Rodriguez	University of Queensland
2,333	Dr. Yasmina Sultanbawa	QAAFI
2,332	Dr. Janine Lay	University of Queensland
2,331	Mr Jason Lamb	BMGF
2,330	Mrs Annie Cox
2,329	Mr Stephen Williams	University of Queensland
2,328	Dr. Melanie Wilkinson	The University of Queensland
2,327	Dr. Neil O'Leary	NUI Galway
2,326	Dr. Glen Fox
2,325	Dr. Richard Fuller	The University of Queensland
2,324	Dr. Mark Cooper	The University of Queensland
2,323	Dr. Mike Gidley	The University of Queensland
2,322	Dr. Ian Godwin	The University of Queensland
2,321	Dr. Mary Fletcher	University of Queensland (QAAFI)
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Another list of people who have made the same commitment: www.manpanels.org

Coverage and Inspiration

Last year, six leading Washington think tanks presented more than 150 events on the Middle East that included not a single woman speaker. Fewer than one-quarter of all the speakers at the 232 events at those think tanks recorded in our newly compiled data-set were women.
“The mysterious absence of women from Middle East policy debates“ – Tamara Cofman Wittes and Marc Lynch, Washington Post Money Cage, January 20th 2015

Because I believe you cannot conduct constructive discourse on international issues without the participation of women, I recently decided not to speak on any panels that did not include women. I’m not writing this to seek a pat on the back. But because any discussion that does not include women’s perspectives or that reflexively excludes or fails to seek out the women who are leaders in their fields in virtually any and every subject on this agenda will be deeply inadequate and will only compound distortions of gender bias that exist because of our long history of systematic exclusion of women’s views. I’d much rather participate in discussions where the organizers actually demonstrate that they are committed to producing the best possible work product.

“Still waiting for Davos Woman” by David Rothkopf, FP Magazine, January 22nd, 2015

I often attend panels or discussions dominated by men, especially in technology. This is problematic since it sends the signal that only men have the expertise in their given field. To their credit, some men are initiating change.
“Three Ways To Change The Ratio of Women Receiving VC“ – Leah Eichler, Inc Website, November 10th 2014

There is no topic that cannot be discussed by women. There is no circumstance that would prevent one from inviting women. There is simply no rational excuse for excluding women. And, if you are invited to join a panel with no women, you must conclude it is being organized by fools.
“Why I will no longer speak on all-male panels“ – Scott Gilmore, Macleans, October 4th, 2014