About Athena Talks

Who we are, what we do, and why.

“Social media’s a catalyst for the advancement of everyone’s rights. It’s where we’re reminded that we’re all human and all equal. It’s where people can find and fight for a cause, global or local, popular or specialized, even when there are hundreds of miles between them.” — Queen Rania of Jordan

Why Athena Talks?

“Talks” can be a noun and a verb. It’s ongoing, plural and inclusive. Without discussion, there is no progress.

Athena is the greek goddess of wisdom and war. As the myth goes she has no mother, was raised by her father and values chastity. Some say that she’s the most sexist of Goddesses; others say she’s the only female voice of reason in the male-dominated world of Greek mythology. In a movement for empowering women’s voice, Athena represents the inclusion of men.

Equality does not mean the same thing for everyone — the irony — lets talk about it. Whether it’s why pay is less, why doors are opened, why pay is more, why doors are not opened, how handshakes are given or not given or why you should or shouldn’t be doing the job, the discussion is burgeoning.

Is equality possible? Aristotle said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” But we’re not things, we’re people. So I dunno, lets talk about it. Are goddesses real? I dunno, lets talk about it. Do we have a team in place ready to facilitate this discussion? Yep, read more about us, our progress and upcoming initiatives.

1 Month of Athena Talks:

Since our launch on March 8th 2016 (International Women’s Day), we have published over a hundred authors in our publication, over a thousand people have joined our Facebook community, and we’d like to share what’s next.

What do we want to achieve?

1. Raised women’s voice about equality while inviting men into the discussion.

2. Build and nurture communities of equality advocates who support and mentor each other.

3. Cooperate with like-minded individuals and organizations to grow global recognition and local presence.

Moving from Media to Actionable Programs:

We will be launching Athena Talks Lunch Mentorship, and Athena Talks Events.

About Athena Talks Lunch Mentorship Program

Athena Talks Mentorship Program is our initiative to provide more intimate and meaningful relationships between mentors and mentees. By matching young women with senior professional women, we encourage deep conversations that young women need in order to succeed, while provide senior female leaders a platform to inspire and share their personal stories. These lunches will include a mentor (leader, activist, senior professional), 1–2 mentees (selected through our upcoming Social Media event), and one facilitator from Athena Talks team.

About Athena Talks Events

There will be three Athena Talks Events in 2016 in San Francisco, Hanoi, and Saigon. In Athena Talks events, speakers will tell their stories and share their thoughts with 50–100 community members. We will cover topics of feminism, misogyny, sexism, women in business, women in tech, gender equality, and many more. Want to learn more or get involved? Email us or direct message our Facebook page.

Read our Publication

In its first month, Athena Talks on Medium.com has created 120,000+ pagesviews across original blog posts by 100+ writers from around the globe, (to name some: US, Italy, Australia, India to Nigeria, Mexico, & Vietnam). Contribute today!

We have published hundreds of quality articles, opinion pieces, poems, interviews and reports covering a wide range of feminism-related topics, such as women leadership, sexual harassment, body empowerment, or feminist theories. Some of our most popular authors (Liza Donnelly, Val Weisler, Rhea Drysdale, etc…) are leaders, founders, artists, performers who have written for the New York Times, Huffington Post or Politico, worked for global organizations or network such as Women Who Code, the World Bank, ESPN, or spoken and performed at TED Global and TEDx events across the globe.

Who is Making Athena Talks?

We have a good group of folks dedicating their time, led by Linh Dao. The team includes men and women spanning across continents, industries, and gender spectrum. We are entrepreneurs, educators, activists and creators who believe equality matters. Click below to learn more about each team member.

How Can You Get Involved?

We’re looking for (1) venue sponsors for quarterly events and (2) mentors to have lunch with upcoming advocates for equality.

Please comment or email us if you are interested in hosting an ambitious young community, our first SF panel will be in late June and we’ve got a couple great panelists lined up!

Additional Reading — Best Content of Month Published by the Athena Talks Movement

We want to be a hub of conversation where women mature, promising professionals become leaders and leaders become advocates for equality.