New Women’s Speaker Directory to Bridge the Gender Gap in Hospitality Conference Lineups

In a significant step toward advancing gender equality within the hospitality industry, the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative: an interactive Speaker Directory featuring over 700 accomplished senior-level women across various sectors of hospitality. This directory, designed to be an indispensable resource for conference organizers, addresses the persistent imbalance in representation by ensuring that more women have the opportunity to take the stage at industry events.

Despite women comprising 58% of the hospitality workforce, they hold a disproportionate 24% of podium spots at hotel investment conferences, according to a 2023 report by The Penn State School of Hospitality Management, funded by the AHLA Foundation. This disparity underscores the importance of visibility and representation in career advancement, a gap the new directory aims to bridge.

"Representation matters, and visibility is a key component to career advancement," emphasized Rachel Vandenberg, Chair of the Alliance’s Podium Committee and Founder of Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel. "There are countless women with deep expertise in the hospitality industry, yet their presence on conference stages remains limited. This directory changes that."

The creation of this directory was driven by the Alliance's commitment to overcoming barriers that have historically limited the inclusion of diverse voices at conferences. By offering an easily navigable tool, the directory dispels the myth that there are not enough qualified women speakers available for industry events.

"In my experience, the women know the women!" said Lan Elliott, Principal of Acacia Hospitality LLC and Interview Host for DEI Advisors, who played a leadership role in developing the directory. "We hope the Directory will be a game-changer, leveraging our collective networks to connect conference organizers with a broader range of women leaders as speakers."

The directory's robust search functionality allows organizers to filter potential speakers by career background, title, company type, location, and more, making it easier than ever to find the right speaker for any event. The immediate positive response from the industry highlights its potential impact.

Lee Hunter, Chairman of the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, praised the initiative, saying, "A big thank you to the Alliance for leading this important initiative. This directory will serve as a wonderful resource for conference organizers, bringing new voices and fresh perspectives to conference stages."

Screenshot of the Directory in action

Further underscoring the directory's significance, Rachel Humphrey, Founder of the Alliance, noted: "Every event benefits from a diverse speaker lineup. Showcasing a wide range of perspectives not only enriches the experience for attendees but also ensures greater visibility for these leaders, pushing the needle further on overall representation in the hospitality industry."

The Speaker Directory, powered by RaizUp, ensures that no conference need be lacking in the representation of women speakers, regardless of the topic or location. This initiative, supported by key industry players like ALIS/Northstar, HUNTER, The Lodging Conference, and NYU/Questex, marks a collaborative effort to drive lasting change in the industry.

We cannot wait to see the results on conference stages!!!  Bring on the women!! As they say...if you can see it, you can be it.  This initiative will certainly inspire the next generation of women in hospitality. 

hertelier is a founding member of  the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance, a consortium of 32 organizations dedicated to advancing women in hospitality, invites conference organizers and potential speakers to explore the directory and contribute to this vital movement toward gender equality. For more information or to request access to the Directory, visit whlalliance.org or contact whlalliance@gmail.com.