TIME TO ‘ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION’

Elevate launches new diversity platform ‘Elevate The Conversation’.

Elevate celebrated the launch of their new ‘Elevate the Conversation’ platform at King St. Townhouse on the evening of Wednesday 25th January.

Tackling the issue of diversity head on, the company last night issued a call out for people to recommend and champion new and engaging speakers, to provide the north with an ever-evolving list of spokespeople to help solve the ongoing diversity issue across the region.

The ‘Elevate the Conversation’ platform will be a collaborative list of speakers from a range of backgrounds, each bringing their own unique and often overlooked perspective to the conversations that matter.

Designed to be a resource for individuals and businesses to consult, the list will be constantly updated with new voices, and aim to ensure more diverse and inclusive speaker panels feature in upcoming events across the north.

Speaking on the launch, Co-Founder and Director of Elevate, Katie Robson said: “It seems strange to us that, whilst there has undoubtedly been huge progress in diversity in inclusion, we are still attending events with all white, all male panels and seeing so few women and people of colour in the business media.

“The same excuses continue to appear when this is challenged – that all white, all male panels more accurately reflect the business community, that sponsors favour putting forward white men, and that panelists are selected based on whoever is deemed to be the so-called ‘best contributor’ to the topic.

“We don’t think that’s good enough. We’ve rested on our laurels for too long, and in 2023 we’re committing to working harder to give underrepresented groups a voice.”

Nominations for brilliant speakers who are experts in their field, but don’t yet have the platform they deserve, can be submitted to the ‘Elevate the Conversation’ platform here.

Those nominated will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges, including representatives from The Manc Group and national PR agency, The PHA Group. The initial list will be published in March and successful candidates will be invited to the first Elevate the Conversation event in April. Businesses and media from across the region will also be invited to facilitate an introduction to the incredible speakers that can truly elevate future conversations.