Excellent Speakers for Your Next Tech Event

Like many, I’m disappointed that gender—or ethnicity, etc., etc., etc.—should even have to play a role when it comes to selecting awesome speakers, but the reality is that the dais at most tech-related events and conferences is still occupied (largely) by white men. That needs to change. We’ve been very intentional with our programming of Code & Creativity, but it wasn’t like it was hard to find an incredible speaker lineup that also happened to be pretty diverse.

I applaud The Next Web for their recent list of “100+ tech & business women speakers you need at your next event”, but I’ve got a few more to add from the interactive/UX/web world. In no particular order:

• Natalie Downe — Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Lanyrd; Director of Frontend Engineering, Eventbrite — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lisa Welchman — President, Digital Governance Solutions, Active Standards; Author, Managing Chaos — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sophie Shepherd — Senior Designer, Ushahidi — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jen Simmons — Host, The Web Ahead — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jenn Lukas — Interactive Consultant and Front-end Developer — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kimberly Blessing — Director of Technology, Think Brownstone — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Denise Jacobs — CEO, TheCreativeDose.com — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Rachel Andrew — Co-founder, Perch CMS — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Glenda Sims — Team Accessibility Lead, Deque Systems — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Emily Lewis — Co-host, CTRL+CLICK Cast — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Steph Troeth — UX Strategist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sara Wachter-Boettcher — Content Strategy Consultant & Author — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Theresa Neil — Mobile Strategist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kelly Goto — Design Ethnographer, GotoMedia — Google+, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Stephanie (Sullivan) Rewis — Lead UI Developer, Salesforce — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Karen McGrane — CEO, Bond Art + Science — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jessica Ivins — Maker of Awesomeness, Center Centre — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Estelle Weyl — Open Web Developer Evangelist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Laura Kalbag — Designer, ind.ie — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lea Verou — Invited Expert, W3C — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Val Head — Designer & Consultant — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lea Alcantara — Co-host, CTRL+CLICK Cast — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sarah Horton — User Experience Strategy Lead, The Paciello Group — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Whitney Quesenbery — Co-Founder, Center for Civic Design — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Leisa Reichelt — Head of User Research, Government Digital Service — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Margot Bloomstein — Brand & Content Strategist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Dana Chisnell — Consultant, United States Digital Service — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Stephanie Hay — Director of Content Strategy, Capital One — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Angela Colter — Principal of Design Research, Electronic Ink — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Shawn (Lawton) Henry — Accessibility Education and Outreach, W3C/WAI & MIT — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Indi Young — Author, Practical Empathy & Mental Models — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Rachel Hinman — Mobile User Experience Leader, Kohls — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Ana Debenham — Front-End Developer — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Liz Danzico — Creative Director, NPR — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Samantha Warren — Experience Design Lead, Adobe — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Stephanie Rieger — Product/UX Design & Strategy for IoT & Connected Devices — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Nicole Sullivan — Principal Engineer, Pivotal Software — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• danah boyd — Author, It’s Complicated — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sarah B. Nelson — Team Whisperer, Radically Human — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Yesenia Perez-Cruz — Senior Product Designer, Vox Media — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Rachel Nabors — Web Animator — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Abby “The IA” Covert — Information Architect — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kate Kiefer Lee — Content & Communications, MailChimp — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Nicole Fenton — Innovation Specialist, 18F — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Jina Bolton — Senior Product Designer, Salesforce — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Jen Myers — Director of Open Source Curriculum, Pluralsight — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sara Soueidan — Front-end Developer — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Una Kravets — Front End Developer, IBM Design — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lisa Herrod — Head of User Research & Inclusive Design, Inclusive UX — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Allison Urban — Software Developer, MailChimp — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lis Hubert — UX Consultant — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Dori Smith — Author, JavaScript: Visual QuickStart Guide — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Henny Swan — UX & Design Lead, The Paciello Group — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jenifer Hanen — Mobile Expert — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jill Pala Pieritz — CS Department Chair, GPS — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kristina Halvorson — CEO & Founder, Brain Traffic — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Rosie Campbell — BBC R & D Technologist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lisa Maria Martin — Information Architect — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Zoe (Mickley) Gillenwater — Senior Designer, Booking.com — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Lyza Danger Gardner — Co-Founder, Cloud Four — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Meri Williams — Geek Manager — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sarah Parmenter — Founder, You Know Who — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Sharron Rush — Executive Director, Knowbility.org — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Wendy Chisholm — Senior Accessibility Strategist, Microsoft — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Paula Chuchro — UX Designer, Microsoft — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Alice Bartlett — Frontend Developer, Government Digital Service — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Wren Lanier — Designer, Highrise — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Jennifer Pahlka — Founder, Code for America — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kimberly Bryant — Founder, Black Girls Code — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Ola Gasidlo — JavaScript Developer — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Alla Kholmatova — Interaction designer, FutureLearn — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Marta Armada — Web Designer, Swwweet — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Evgenia Grinblo — UX Designer — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Kim Goodwin — Author, Designing for the Digital Age — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Geri Coady — Author, Pocket Guide to Colour Accessibility — Twitter, Lanyrd
• Eva-Lotta Lamm — Designer & Visual Improviser — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Robin Smail — Technologist — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Patty Toland — Partner, Filament Group — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Marcy Sutton — Accessibility Engineer, Adobe — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Léonie Watson — Web Platform Working Group Co-Chair, W3C — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Emma Boulton — Research Director, Monotype — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd
• Cyd Harrell — UX & Product, Code for America — Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd

I also highly recommend Molly Holzschlag. She’s currently on medical leave, but she is a-mazing. When she’s ready to get back in the saddle, she’ll bring a wealth of knowledge to your event from her decades of working in technology.

I’ve seen everyone on this list deliver incredible talks on technology, the Web, business, or all three; in some cases, I’ve even had the great privilege of co-presenting with them. I’m sure there are other’s I’ve forgotten on this dreary Chattanooga morning, so I will continue adding to this list over time. All would be fantastic additions to any tech event.

If you’re looking for an even more exhaustive list of incredible speakers, you should check out the Articulate Network on Lanyrd.