2022 Year in Review
We believe it’s important to celebrate wins, big and small. As we wrap up the year, we want to take a moment to shout out our community and our team.
Here are a few milestones that we’re celebrating as we look back on 2022.
Announced Present Yourself: The Book and launched our first Kickstarter
While the campaign isn’t over just yet (go back it and spread the word!), this was a big step for us. We’re so excited to work with our dozen contributors and turn our hallmark public speaking course into a book so we can get the tools, stories, and advice in the hands of more people.
Distributed scholarships for every Present Yourself cohort, thanks to Figma
This year, we were able to offer 21 scholarships to our 8-week Present Yourself program that were distributed to systemically minoritzed and excluded women and nonbinary folks, thanks to Figma. They’ve also signed on to do the same in 2023!
Opened up our Teach with Us application and offered four new community member led workshops
There is so much brilliance within our community of speakers and we’re excited to keep learning from them! This year, we created a new way for community members to engage with us through teaching and were able to offer new two-hour workshops including:
- Turn Your Talk into a Workshop with Tomomi Sasaki
- Craft Your Five Word Life Story with Hilary Rea
- Cultivating Confidence for the Stage with Denise Jacobs
- Designing Safer, Braver Spaces (for In-Person and Online Events with Abbiola Ballah
We can’t wait to continue to grow our workshop offerings!
Started our Community Takeovers Program
Last year, we launched our online community platform. This year, we launched our Community Takeovers program! Every month, 1-2 community members lead a conversation in the space. We’ve loved hearing their stories, prompts, and what topics they want to talk about with the rest of the community.
Got more social with monthly Instagram Live
In the spirit of starting more conversations with community members, outside of our events, we began hosting monthly Instagram Lives! We spoke with Jen Dionisio about goal setting, Natalie Dunbar about her new book, Mariana Valenzuela about the importance of asking to get paid to speak, and several other Present Yourself alumni and community members. You can watch all of the replays on our Instagram account.
Expanded our corporate offerings
Our corporate partnerships have always been key to Women Talk Design’s success. This year, we partnered with companies to offer 1:1 public speaking coaching to team members, create a new 3-week Deliver with Confidence program, and offer actions everyone can do to be an amplifier of women and nonbinary people’s voices. We’re excited to continue to expand these relationships in 2023!
Celebrated 1 year with our team!
At the end of 2021, our small team doubled in size. Thanks to the support of Liz, Jessica, and Frances, we’ve been able to grow our community, expand our social presence, and launch new initiatives. We’re so grateful for the creativity, passion, and energy they bring to Women Talk Design!
Here’s what we’re looking forward to in 2023
- New partnerships – Stay tuned for event announcements in partnership with new friends and familiar names!
- Graduating new cohorts of Present Yourself alumni – We are running four new Present Yourself cohorts in 2023, starting in January. We can’t wait to hear what these program participants have to share with the world and what they accomplish after the cohort!
- Publishing our first book! We excited to share the journey of self-publishing our first book. Help us fund it.
- New experiments – Every year, we test out new events, offer new programs, and explore new topic areas. We’re excited about what’s in store for 2023!
As we wrap up the year, we want to say thank you. Thank you to the 1000+ community members who showed up for events this year. Thank you to the supporters who helped spread the word about Women Talk Design. Thank you to everyone who believe’s in our work and has amplified and supported to our Kickstarter. Thank you to the community members who joined and contributed to our community space. Thank you to everyone who attended a Lightning Talks event to support speakers as they practiced talks. Thank you to our 900+ speakers in the Women Talk Design Directory for raising your hand to speak and being the role models we all want to see on stage. Thank you to our partners and community members for continuing to invest in and support Women Talk Design’s mission.
2023 is just days away and we’re looking forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with our community and offering programs and resources to help you speak up, share your ideas, and be heard.
See you soon!
