Nearly every month, if not week, it seems there’s a cause to recognize, a celebration to host, or an industry trend to discuss — which often means an event to plan. To help you find the right speaker for your next DEI event, we’ve compiled a list of speakers bureaus and names of public speakers to hire.
We’ve pulled these speakers bureaus and public speakers from our series of monthly guides and from DEI leaders like you. Share this list with your peers, colleagues, and employee resource group leaders. Keep it close so that the next time someone brings up DEI events and asks if you have a public speaker to hire, you can offer one or direct them to a speakers bureau (better yet, just send them the list).
Is there a public speaker or speakers bureau we missed? Send us an email to help us keep this resource up to date.
Use the quick navigation links below:
Public Speakers
Public Speakers for AAPI Heritage Month:
- Lydia X. Z. Brown is an attorney, disability justice advocate, and the director of public policy at the National Disability Institute. In addition to Asian American heritage, topics Brown has previously discussed include disabled work culture, leadership, and community building.
- Cynthia Owyoung is a diversity expert, author, and the head of DEI at software company BILL. She discusses the importance of AAPI Heritage Month and inclusivity.
- Diana YK Chan, an executive career coach, started Amplifying Asian Stories in May 2021. The annual series of fireside chats and conversations with AAPI leaders and other speaking engagements aims to uplift diverse voices about mental health and empathy and increase AAPI representation.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our AAPI Heritage Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Autism Acceptance Month:
- Dr. Temple Grandin is an animal behaviorist who has autism, has done many speaking engagements on the topics of both animal behavior and autism. She’s written several books on life with autism, and among various television features about Grandin’s life includes a full-length HBO film titled “Temple Grandin.”
- Professor Stephen Shore is an author and professor of special education at Adelphi University. He speaks about his life on the autism spectrum and best practices for matching support with individuals’ needs.
- Ryan Litchfield applies his experiences navigating life with autism to his work as a life coach for adults with ASD. The topics he speaks on include employment and reasonable accommodations in the workplace for individuals with autism.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Autism Acceptance Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Black History Month:
- Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. Coates has several New York Times bestselling books and addresses audiences on urgent cultural topics.
- Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is a leading scholar, author, and political commentator who delivers speeches to audiences on the African-American experience.
- Brit Bennett (email: speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com) is the author of the coming-of-age novels “The Mothers” and “The Vanishing Half.” Her talks give audiences a window into themes such as race and systemic injustice.
- Martin Luther King III is the son of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and offers audiences a rare and unique glimpse of growing up in the eye of the civil rights movement.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Black History Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Disability Pride Month:
- Becky Curran Kekula works as a disability inclusion advisor and is an advocate of disability inclusion and equality. Kekula is currently the senior director of the Disability Equality Index at Disability:IN.
- Meryl Evans is an accessibility consultant who was born profoundly deaf. She guides companies through ways to create a safe space for people with disabilities.
- Tiffany Yu is the founder and CEO of Diversability and advises people on elevating disability pride. In her work, Yu draws from her personal experiences, including a car crash that left her disabled at just 9 years old.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Disability Pride Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Hispanic Heritage Month:
- Corina Burton is an entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of multimillion-dollar businesses she developed from the ground up. She uses her personal story to help others achieve success.
- Deborah Rosado Shaw runs a consulting and advisory firm. She was previously PepsiCo’s senior VP of chief global diversity and engagement.
- Pedro David Espinoza has been described as the “Robinhood of Technology” according to Voice of America. He is a tech entrepreneur, investor, and inclusion expert leading keynote speeches on diversity and inclusion. His objective is to show companies how the right DEI strategy can set them up for success.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Hispanic Heritage Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Juneteenth:
- Bozoma Saint John has been described as a trailblazing and genuine change agent. Saint John is a hall of fame-inducted marketing executive, author, and entrepreneur. In 2021, Forbes named her one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs for her bold thinking and cutting-edge ideas. Throughout her career, Saint John has worked at Netflix, Pepsi, Apple, and Uber.
- Stacey Abrams is a political leader and voting rights activist who was the Democratic nominee for the governor of Georgia in 2022. As the first Black woman to be a gubernatorial nominee of a major party, Abrams uses her platform to champion equity for all people.
- Kahlil Greene was thrust into the national spotlight after being elected Yale University’s first Black student body president. Greene is a social media influencer who preaches racial justice across all mediums of academia. He provides a unique Gen Z perspective on workplace interventions and DEI strategies.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Juneteenth Celebration Guide.
Public Speakers for Mental Health Awareness:
- Charles Clark (email: events@thecharlesclark.com) is a former pro athlete turned wellness and mindful coach with an uplifting and energizing message that challenges everyone to get well and live their best life.
- Mike Veny is a world-renowned mental health motivational speaker who is guaranteed to engage, empower, encourage, and enlighten any audience to take actionable steps to promote mental wellness.
- Dr. Rhonda Wood has been recognized as one of the most prominent voices for mental health advocacy by using her more than 30 years in the corporate sector to normalize and destigmatize mental health conversations.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Mental Health Awareness Month Guide.
Public Speakers for National ERG Day:
- Alyssa Dver (email: info@ERGLeadershipAlliance.com) speaks more than 100 times each year representing ERG Leadership Alliance, one of the largest global associations of employee group champions that she founded and currently chairs. Dver has authored eight expert-endorsed books, the latest is “ERG Intelligence: What every leader needs to know about employee groups.” She is also an advisor at the MIT and Wharton innovation centers and a spokesperson for L’Oréal’s IT Cosmetics.
Public Speakers for National Military Veterans and Families Month:
- Deshauna Barber is the vice chair of the Service Women’s Action Network, a former captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, and a former Miss USA. She has spoken on topics such as women’s empowerment in male-dominated industries, overcoming adversity as a minority in the Army, and how corporations can give back to military families and veterans.
- Jamie Chapman (email: jaime@jchapman.com) is a military spouse and a former U.S. military member who has trained large enterprises on recruiting, hiring, and retaining military spouses.
- Joe Gerstandt (email: donna@platinumspeakersagency.com) is a diversity and inclusion strategist, keynote speaker, and former infantry leader in the U.S. Marine Corps. Co-author of “Social Gravity: Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships,” Gerstandt has conducted diversity and inclusion training and program design for Fortune 100 companies, and he has written for publications such as the Workforce Diversity Network, Diversity Executive, and HR Executive.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our National Veterans and Military Families Month Guide.
Public Speakers for National Native American Heritage Month:
- Cheryl Crazy Bull (email: ccrazybull@collegefund.org) is a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation. Since 2012, she has served as the president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund. Crazy Bull has received several awards and recognitions. She was named one of the 50 most influential people in Indian Country by Indian Country Today in 2015 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Finance Officers Association in 2019.
- Sarah EchoHawk (email: sechohawk@aises.org), a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, has been advocating for Indigenous people for more than 20 years. She also serves as the CEO of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
- Melvin Monette-Barajas (email: Melvin.Monette@cobellscholar.org) is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians who has advised American Indian and LGBTQ+ student groups throughout his career. He is now the president and CEO of the Cobell Scholarship Program at Indigenous Education, Inc.
- Angelique Albert (email: angelique@nativeforward.org) is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. Since 2017, she has led as the CEO of the Native Forward Scholars Fund, the nation’s largest scholarship provider for Native students. She also serves as a member of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Advisory Council.
- Michael E. Roberts (email: mroberts@fndi.org), a member of the Tlingit Nation, was appointed the president and CEO of the First Nations Development Institute in 2005. Before then, he worked in private equity and taught business courses at the University of Missouri Kansas City and Haskell Indian Nations University.
- Carly Bad Heart Bull (email: cbadheartbull@nativeways.org) is a citizen of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Before joining the Native Ways Federation as its executive director, she served as the Native Nations activities manager at the Bush Foundation.
- Erik Stegman (email: estegman@nativephilanthropy.org), of the Carry the Kettle First Nation, is the CEO of the Native Americans in Philanthropy organization, which advocates for stronger investments in Indigenous communities. He started his career at the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center in Washington, D.C., and later served in the Obama administration as a policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education.
- Shannon O’Loughlin (email: shannon@indian-affairs.org) is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She is currently a lecturer at Johns Hopkins and the chief executive and attorney at the Association on American Indian Affairs, which is the oldest nonprofit dedicated to protecting the rights of Indigenous people and communities.
- Valerie Red-Horse (email: valerier@valerieredhorse.com), who is of the Cherokee Nation, was the first Native American to establish an investment bank on Wall Street more than 20 years ago. Red-Horse also founded Red-Horse Native Productions, Inc. for which she wrote, directed, and produced documentaries. In 2022, she was appointed to the U.S. Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity.
- Sydney Freeland was raised by her Navajo father and Scottish mother on a reservation in New Mexico. She was a 2004 Fulbright scholar and went on to write, direct, and release her first film, “Drunktown’s Finest,” which gained critical acclaim in 2014. Freeland received an Emmy nomination in 2016 for her digital series, “Her Story.”
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our National Native American Heritage Month Guide.
Public Speakers for Pride Month:
- Brandon Wolf is a Pulse nightclub shooting survivor as well as an activist and change maker. Since the 2016 shooting in Orlando, Florida, he has become a vocal champion for gun reform and equality for all. Wolf also founded The Dru Project, an LGBTQIA+ youth organization that cultivates inclusive school environments and provides college funding to emerging queer leaders.
- Lily Zheng is a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and strategist. Zheng works with company leaders to turn positive intentions into positive impacts on employees. They were named to the Forbes D&I Trailblazer list and honored as a top DEI influencer in 2021. Zheng also advocates for trans rights in their work and has written “Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace” along with “The Ethical Sellout: Maintaining Your Integrity in the Age of Compromise,” “DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right,” and “Reconstructing DEI: A Practitioner’s Workbook.”
- Amber Hikes is a social justice advocate and deputy executive director of strategy and culture for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). From an early age, Hikes proved a formidable community organizer. In 2018, they were named “Community Organizer of the Year” by OUT Magazine.
Learn more ways to recognize this month in our Pride Month Guide.
Senior Executive DEI Think Tank is a criteria-based membership community for chief diversity officers and senior-level DEI leaders at large organizations to share difference-making tactics, trade valuable resources, and seek the counsel of experienced peers in a private, confidential setting.
Do you qualify?Speakers Bureaus
Speakers bureaus are companies that have a roster of speakers to choose from. Whether it’s a panel, workshop, or keynote speaker position you’re looking to fill, these speaker bureaus can offer recommendations based on what you need.
All American Entertainment (AAE) Speakers: AAE specializes in providing keynote speakers and “corporate entertainment.” Prices range from $5,000 to $200,000 per speaker. The bureau’s list of speakers includes astronauts, comedians, lawyers, and sports broadcasters for virtual or in-person events.
APB Speakers: The founder of APB, Robert P. Walker, is credited for developing “infotainment” as a way of knowledge sharing in a lighthearted, enjoyable manner. A few speakers on APB’s roster include writer and performer ALOK, DEI strategist and author Redia Anderson, Carl Bernstein, and hundreds of other notable speakers. The bureau has more than 200 speakers who specialize in DEI.
Big Speak: From keynote to motivational speakers, Big Speak has hundreds of women speakers, teamwork speakers, and culture speakers for hire. It also touts serving more than 70% of the Fortune 1000’s entertainment needs for companies like CNN, Apple, and Cisco.
CMI Speakers: CMI connects clients with business speakers around the globe to offer sessions about communication, employee engagement, and collaboration. It also offers three masterclasses and certification series — Clint Pulver, Vinh Giang, and Phil M. Jones — that offer role-playing and learning modules and end with a certification for each participant.
Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau: While Eagles Talent has hundreds of speakers for hire, it also offers a three-step process for selecting the perfect public speaker for your event. The process includes a needs analysis, selection, and follow-through, which ensures the engagement is in order.
Executive Speakers Bureau: Executive Speakers offers a roster of talented presenters specializing in supplier diversity, cyber security, personal growth, resilience, employee engagement, and more. The bureau also provides a series of artificial intelligence thought leaders and speakers.
Gold Stars Speakers Bureau: If you’re unsure who you want to hire, Gold Stars is a great place to start. You begin the process by completing a client intake form. From there, the bureau will connect you with an ideal speaker for your in-person or virtual event.
Gotham Artists: Gotham Artists is an agency that not only represents exclusive talent for hire but it also has “relationships with all of the major bureaus, agencies, musical entertainment, and independent speakers from around the world.” It offers curated lists of speakers for different occasions including this list of Gotham Artists’ top 15 speakers for Women’s History Month, including Aisha Harris and Mia Hamm.
Harry Walker Agency: The Harry Walker Agency proclaims to have exclusive access to hundreds of speakers around the globe. Some such speakers include activist and feminist organizer Gloria Steinem, former VP Al Gore, journalist and women’s history expert Elaine Weiss, comedian and writer Ziwe, activist Erin Brockovich, and many more.
Keppler Speakers: Not only does Keppler Speakers have a listing with hundreds of experts across fields such as DEI, sustainability, and energy policy, it also offers a price range for speakers in different disciplines. The bureau offers speakers who appeal to college and theater events and can speak to trending topics such as STEM, social media, and social activism.
Key Speakers: This women-owned and women-operated bureau advertises its expertise in providing speakers for “Fortune 500’s, technology companies, trade associations, nonprofits and businesses of all shapes and sizes.” Its diversity and inclusion speakers are further broken down by experts with varying identities including Jewish, Asian, and disability motivational speakers.
The Lavin Agency: Best-selling author Margaret Atwood; author and recipient of Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor awards Major MJ Hegar; and the first Latina in space, Ellen Ochoa, are just a few of the speakers who can be booked through The Lavin Agency.
Leading Authorities, Inc.: In addition to offering access to hundreds of exclusive speakers, such as Anthony Fauci and Jake Tapper, Leading Authorities lists most speakers’ fees. Price points differ across regions and countries.
National Speakers Bureau: If you’re unsure which topic you want your speaker to cover, the National Speakers Bureau makes it easy by displaying trending topics and talent. Current featured speakers include NBA legend Magic Johnson, founder of FUBU and star of “Shark Tank” Daymond John, and founder of the Hello Fears movement Michelle Poler. Past clients include Rutgers, Boeing, and Trader Joe’s.
Premiere Speakers Bureau: Start your speakers’ wish list and return to it for upcoming events by creating an account with Premiere Speakers Bureau. Similar to many of the other bureaus listed, you can search speakers by trending topics, including DEI speakers.
Speakers.com: Speakers.com offers thorough biographies for more than 1,000 speakers. The website also tells you where speakers are traveling from and offers similar speakers to ensure you’re finding just the right talent for your event.
Speaker Exchange Agency: The Speaker Exchange Agency is another women-founded, women-led organization. Start your search by picking a category or price range and go from there. Clients the Speaker Exchange Agency has “wowed” include Hyatt, Sprint, and True Value.
SpeakInc: SpeakInc reiterates that it is here to work with you to find the perfect speaker for your event by outlining your wants and desires and working to make it happen. While the agency has speakers covering widespread topics like DEI, conflict resolution, and consumer trends, it also includes experts from niche fields such as aging and hypnosis.
The Sweeney Agency: The Sweeney Agency offers a top 10 speaker list for opening and closing speakers, sales speakers, DEIB speakers, and more. Start here if you’re not sure who to hire to speak on your topic of interest.
Washington Speakers Bureau: Washington Speakers Bureau claims to be “the world’s largest talent agency specializing in corporate speaking events.” It represents top political talent, including former president George W. Bush, as well as sports legends like Tony Dungy, and hundreds of others in a range of industries and disciplines.
