The Ascent CEO Promise seeks to marshal leaders in the business events community around issues of inclusion and diversity. Building upon global efforts, The Ascent CEO Promise outlines actions that organizations and companies have taken or will take to create more inclusive and equitable workplaces and events. We recognize that there is much work to be done, and that these three actions are merely a beginning. We invite CEOs across the business events industry to join our list of signatories.

As we face chronic and harmful inequities across the globe, we must work to mitigate tensions around gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and disabilities. We must promote inclusion and diversity within our organizations and also at the events we produce and attend.
We believe greater inclusion will foster new voices to strengthen our leadership, our businesses, and our world. By working together, we will cultivate meaningful social change.

Today we join the wider business community in this cause to commit to three initial goals:

1. We will make our workplaces and events open and trusting settings.

We will create and maintain workplaces and business events where people feel comfortable and respected and where open conversations about inclusion, diversity, and equal and fair treatment are welcomed. We will strive to motivate and to educate our teams on the business case and best practices for inclusive workplaces and events.

1. We will provide education on barriers to inclusivity, including unconscious bias.

Let us recognize that we all have unconscious biases and work to move beyond them. Education will enable us to minimize potential blind spots when it comes to inclusivity and diversity. We commit to offering education that fosters awareness of unconscious bias within our organizations and companies and at our events.

1. We will share what we know, what we learn, and what needs improvement.

Our organizations and companies will establish inclusion and diversity initiatives. Those that are further along the path will extend a hand, sharing successes and failures through industry channels. At our events, we will be intentional about creating diverse and inclusive panels and speaker programs. We will adopt a zero-tolerance harassment policy so all participants feel safe and welcome. We will ensure that our venues are accessible for people with disabilities.

Please add your name, email, title and organization to make the Ascent CEO Promise. All names will be added to the website.

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