Jill Binder

#WPDiversity Speaker Training group Lead, sponsored by Automattic and GreenGeeks | I help tech communities create more speaker diversity on stage & leadership. 

Diverse Speaker Training Group Lead (#WPDiversity), sponsored by Automattic and GreenGeeks | I help tech Community & Diversity Managers get more underrepresented voices on stage and, ultimately, in leadership

Talks about #diversity, #diversityintech, and #diversityandinclusion

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Interested in Diversity & Inclusion efforts that make actual, visible change?

Whether you’ve been working in this field for a while already...

Or you’re new to this and facing a crowd who are upset and saying: “There is a big problem. What are you going to do about it??”

✅ WHAT I DO

I have a workshop that encourages people from marginalized and underrepresented groups in tech to start public speaking. As a result, many go on to become organizers and leaders. This is a direct, active action step that has immediate results fostering diverse communities NOW.


✅ BUT JILL! GETTING DIVERSE SPEAKERS IS HARD! (I KNOW. I GET IT.)

When I was a tech conference organizer, we had hardly any folks from underrepresented groups apply to speak. Our final speaker lineup had only 14% diverse representation. Folks in the audience were not happy about this, and talked to us privately or even wrote blog posts about it publicly.

That's when I started researching the issue and I lead the creation of a 4-hour transformational workshop that helps people:

⭐ Bust through Impostor Syndrome
⭐ Actually own their expertise
⭐ Develop the tools for speaking on stage (real or virtual)

The following year we had 3 times the number of diverse applicants and fully 50% speaker diversity!

✅ REAL CHANGE

As amazing as this is, the thing that lit my fire about this work was seeing what happened next and happens every time:

⭐ People started stepping up to be managers, organizers, and leaders
⭐ People got offered jobs and promotions
⭐ There was more representation in the community's contributors and event audiences
⭐ Everyone benefited from hearing the perspectives of people who don't all look alike and come from the same background. Tech brands and products became better as a result

I can show you how.

✅ WHAT OTHERS SAY

⭐ "Jill Binder’s work in her diverse speaker outreach and training initiatives helps remove some of the barriers that people from underrepresented groups in tech might face when becoming a WordCamp speaker. Automattic happily supports and sponsors Jill in her initiatives."

- Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder, WordPress; CEO, Automattic

⭐ "There is so much value in Jill’s diversity speaker workshops – especially for those in marginalized groups who have knowledge to share, but may be too hesitant to speak up. Helping someone see that their expertise is valued is the kind of support we need to drive meaningful change."

- Dries Buytaert, Founder of Drupal and Acquia, Inc


✅ If this is something on your radar, drop me a message here on LinkedIn and let’s talk about it.