Women Talk Design has some BIG updates
Earlier this summer, I started a GoFundMe campaign to fund an internship for my female design students to work on a website I started, called Women Talk Design — a resource to negate all excuses that keep women from the speaking opportunities that they deserve. it raised 4x what I had hoped for, and I was able to hire two interns to work on it. A few months later, after a lot of hours of work and amazing support from the community, I was excited to share this announcement with donors on the future of Women Talk Design.
Hello wonderful donors!
I have two very exciting pieces of news to share:
1. We have an updated website!
Fueled by your generous donations, Jennifer and Melissa put in 600+ hours this summer to conduct user research, develop the content strategy, overhaul the IA, and redesign Women Talk Design. With the help of their brilliant and benevolent mentors Indi Young (research), Abby Covert (IA), Margot Bloomstein (content strategy), Madonnalisa Chan (IA & governance), Hugh Dubberly (systems), and Erin Malone (graphic design & brand) they thoughtfully applied the principles of experience design to help Women Talk Design better meet the needs of our audiences and goals for our industry. Check out (and follow!) @womentalkdesign for some of those learnings, as well as “7 Reasons Why Women Say No to Speaking & What Conference Organizers Can Do About It”, parts 1 and 2.
No effort succeeds without clarity of purpose. Through this process, we created a message architecture to define Women Talk Design as a platform to “elevate the best talks about design from women, and empower event organizers with tools, approaches, and information to engage more women speakers.“ We use great talks to call attention to great speakers — in that order — and redesigned the site to reflect that. Now, anyone can discover excellent talks on design, UX, content strategy, and related topics through the site, and then learn about (and hire) the women behind the mics.
Have a look and get inspired: womentalkdesign.com
Your generous donations power these changes. Thank you for funding Jennifer and Melissa’s internship. They wrapped up their work with WTD and will be finishing up their final year at CCA. Stay in touch — they gained insight, experience, and exposure, and they’ll be on the job market soon!
2. We have an updated team!
We have too much momentum and too much important work to keep doing to stop now. I’m excited to announce that Danielle Barnes has joined us as the full-time CEO of Women Talk Design, LLC. She has a great vision of where to take our nascent organization so it can foster greater and greater impact. As a founder of both the San Francisco and Austin General Assembly offices, as well as Austin Design Week, she brings wisdom, savvy, and optimism to our work. I know WTD is in good hands.
Your donations enabled us to create Women Talk Design as a true resource, not just a directory. This fall we’ll be offering multiple speaker training events, and Danielle will lead the way in their organization as she works to build Women Talk Design into a sustainable, effective social enterprise.
I’ve been so grateful for the outpouring of support through donations and offers of mentorship and assistance for Women Talk Design. I started Women Talk Design in 2013 because I was tired of hearing conference organizers say, “There aren’t any female speakers who are able to talk about this topic… or available… or any good… or….” when we know those excuses wilt in the heat of volume and visibility. I wanted to make a site that would take away excuses and shine a spotlight on both speakers and the best ways to engage them. With Women Talk Design, organizers can find some of the best speakers on relevant topics, check out their speaking abilities, and contact them. Moreover, they’ll be able to find guidance to create more inclusive events, suggestions for speaker outreach, and tips to prioritize diversity to strengthen their events, not just to check a box. I’m beyond excited to know this effort will continue and have impact. This fall I’ll be teaching at CCA, working on a new book and as always, being a full-time mom, but will remain an active advisor and advocate of Women Talk Design.
Your donation has been so meaningful already. To continue to support this effort as it expands and gathers participants, content, and resources, here are some ways to do so:
- Continue to spread the word about Women Talk Design among speakers and organizers
- Follow us on twitter @womentalkdesign
- Share our published research on Medium
- Nominate or encourage awesome women to apply to be listed
- Financially support WTD by donating to our updated GoFundMe campaign
- Connect with Danielle on how you can continue to financially support, engage, and stay involved
Thanks everyone!
Christina
