What is Make Me A Planel and what can I do?

Make Me A Plan believes that events, panels and publications should represent a balanced snapshot of society. Organisations need to demonstrate they are not excluding groups, for example, by regularly featuring all-male, or majority male speakers or specialists.

Events, panels and publications are planned and so we seek to encourage planels, not manels amongst the business and wider community.

Make Me A Planel Planbassadors believe that a lack of gender balance is often inadvertent, but always wrong.

In the spirit of deeds not words, we ask that you commit to the following activities to support the aims of Make Me A Planel – you are welcome to do more things, more frequently if you are so inspired!

1.      Notice things

How many pages do you have to turn in a newspaper before you see a positive story about a female?

Or an article written by a woman?

When you see emails or internet adverts promoting events, how many of the speakers or specialists are female, or non-binary and how many are male?

2.     Tell people that you’ve noticed things

Your friends

A social media or blog post

A letter to a newspaper or magazine

An email to the organisation

3.     Notice more

Does that organisation or publication make noticeable changes?

How did they respond to your correspondence on the matter?

Is an organisation part of the problem or part of the solution? (what else can they do?)

Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? (what else can you do?)