Changing the Face of Finance One Conference at a Time: Liv Gagnon & Sonya Dreizler, Co-Founders of CHOIR

Season 2, Episode 6
Many of us have stories of attending conferences and feeling like the voices on stage resemble something like a one-note choir. Underrepresentation of women and people of color continues to be a problem throughout financial services, and it often feels painfully evident at professional gatherings and conferences. To try and change this, Sonya Dreizler and Liv Gagnon founded CHOIR, the first diversity certification for financial conferences. This week, Sonya and Liv join Renegade Capital to share why they believe increasing representation is important and how CHOIR is meant to help. 

About Choir. Choir (www.hellochoir.com) is the financial industry’s first conference diversity certification and a diversity-tech platform focused on amplifying the voices of women, non-binary people, and people of color.  

About the Guests.
Sonya is an author and speaker, and an outspoken advocate for racial and gender equity in financial services. She has a 20 year history in the field, including as a Broker Dealer & RIA executive.

Liv is a media relations specialist, public relations consultant, and branding expert who has helped dozens of companies launch into the public eye with a focus on social values.

Renegade Capital Tools & Tips

A renegade not only listens but acts. We've consolidated a few tips from this episode to help you support increased representation in the industry’s it’s needed most. 

• Sign the Pledge: As a conference attendee, speaker, or sponsor, you can use your voice to sign the Choir pledge as a public commitment for attending diverse conferences. The pledge requires conferences, whether in financial services or beyond, to meet a minimum standard of representation and anti-harassment.  
• Look for Representation at the Conferences You Attend: Before signing up for a conference or public event, take a look at the agenda and event policies to see if it meets the minimum standard for representation. If it doesn’t, Choir has resources for reaching out to conference organizers about increasing diversity. 
• Get Choir Certified: If you are planning a financial conference consider getting Choir certified. Start by reviewing the Choir diversity scoring to see where your event needs to improve to expand representation and increase attendee safety.
• Expand Your Familiar Networks: We all have the power to increase conference representation by growing our professional networks. When attending an event make an effort to meet people outside of your usual circles, and then invite them to future events they may not otherwise attend. 

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Thank you to this season's sponsors Lenderfit and Community Capital Management. 

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