Plan your spring calendar with topical speakers that bring fresh perspectives and powerful stories to Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month in May.
Spotlight
Chanel Miller
Chanel Miller is an artist, writer, and author of Know My Name, a breathtaking memoir of a survivor reclaiming her voice. First known publicly as Emily Doe, Miller is the survivor of the Stanford University sexual assault case that exposed the harsh reality of what many victims face. A highly requested speaker for both Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, she addresses how to reclaim agency and use storytelling as a tool for healing and encourages audiences to find, harness, and uplift their voices.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), observed each April, aims to increase awareness about sexual assault and empower individuals to take steps to prevent it in their communities. Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau is proud to represent these resilient powerful women who speak out against harassment, share their stories of survival, and advocate against trauma, bigotry, and systemic injustice.
Emi Nietfeld
Software engineer Emi Nietfeld first came into the public spotlight after her 2021 New York Times op-ed piece revealing her enduring harassment while at Google, and the subsequent retaliation after reporting it. A remarkable storyteller, she challenges the gospel of resilience, the myth of U.S. meritocracy, and the limits of bootstrap mentality, while offering the encouraging message that your career choice does not need to limit your dreams.
Alisyn Camerota
Alisyn Camerota shares her experience as both a journalist covering the #MeToo movement and a survivor of workplace harassment who is taking on the challenge of transforming newsroom culture. Stirring, powerful, and hopeful, her talks touch on her decision to share her story and the work she’s currently pursuing to amplify under-heard voices and stop the abuse of power in the newsroom and beyond.
Susan Fowler
Susan Fowler is the extraordinary woman who first exposed Uber’s widespread culture of sexual harassment and retaliation in an industry-shattering blog post. Her account inspired other women to speak up about their experiences of harassment in Silicon Valley and beyond, and Time magazine recognized Fowler as one of the “Silence Breakers” who ignited the #MeToo movement. In energizing, inspiring talks, Fowler urges us to be the heroes of our own stories and to keep fighting for a more just and equitable world.
AANHPI Heritage Month
Cathy Park Hong
In a relatable conversation that brings her words to life, Cathy Park Hong reflects on her experiences as an Asian American woman, sharing personal anecdotes and incorporating the historical and cultural context of what it means to be a racialized other. She brings to light internal biases we all hold, and posits that the way forward requires acknowledging the harmful ideas and stereotypes that hold us all back from equality.
Dr. Simran Jeet Singh
Dr. Simran Jeet Singh shares his encounters with racism while growing up in South Texas to becoming an activist advocating for equality and justice. In his inspiring keynotes, he discusses his trailblazing efforts and historic firsts in diverse fields – such as children’s literature, podcasting, and chaplaincy – as a way of illustrating the power of representation and why it matters so much to so many, and as a way of exploring its limits and how much farther we still have to go.
C Pam Zhang
In a lively talk that blends craft and personal elements, C Pam Zhang explores how research and living outside of America helped her break new ground in a genre often given over to tropes. She explores the broken mythology of the American dream, how fictional narratives shape our understanding of our country, and how fiction can make a kind of reclamation possible for marginalized populations.