Action Alert | The Atlantic Festival Needs More Women

What used to be called The Washington Ideas Festival is now The Atlantic Festival, but what it hasn’t become is diverse. 71% of the speakers are men, and only 29% are women (only 3 of whom are women of color).

It makes us pause when a big-name festival of “in-depth interviews with today’s biggest thinkers and leaders in tech, politics, business and the arts” where speakers will be “illuminating new ideas and grappling with the most consequential issues of our time” consists of men, men, and more men. If an issue is one of the most consequential of our time, it has consequences for everyone — men, women, etc. When their voices are not part of the discussion, we’re only hearing half of the story and half of the ideas from half of the population.

The good news is that the festival doesn’t take place until October, so there’s plenty of time to make things right.

Thank you once again to Jess Esch (@jesch30) for sharing this with us.

When it’s 71% men at @TheAtlanticFest “grappling with the most consequential issues” not everyone confronting consequences can be heard. @TheAtlantic needs to add more women to its #TheAtlanticFest lineup. 29% isn’t good enough. cc @jesch30 #genderavenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/action-alert-atlantic-festival-needs-more-women