Choir, a program to diversify industry events, sings its last song

Nearly three years after two financial service professionals launched a program to diversify industry events, Choir is singing its last song.

Choir was formed in 2021 as a diversity certification program for financial services conferences. The program’s goal was to make industry events more representative of the U.S. population. Choir’s proprietary algorithm used hundreds of data points to assess the prominence and visibility of women, nonbinary people and people of color on conference stages – setting the first industry benchmark for conference diversity, the Choir Certification. Choir then used this data to provide leadership teams and event organizers with actionable guidance to maintain diverse and increasingly representative speaker lineups year over year. Choir also maintained a database, Choir Voices, which includes the contact information for diverse members of the industry who are available for interviews or speaking at industry events.

In addition, Choir maintained a list of Choir Certified Conferences, which were subject to assessment of their most recent event to determine the prominence and visibility of women, non-binary people, and people of color on stage in comparison to their representation in the U.S population. Choir’s proprietary algorithm scored the visibility of each speaking spot, then cross-referenced that with race and gender data of the speaker. Conferences earning a score of 60 or above – a level much higher than both the industry average and the Choir Pledge – were eligible for certification.

'Sadness, pride, gratitude and hope'

In an open letter to Choir’s members, founders Sonya Dreizler and Liv Gagnon said: “With sadness, pride, gratitude and hope, we write to let you know that Choir, our conference certification services, and our Voices platform will close on Dec. 31, 2024. Sadness at closing this heart-forward, industry-changing organization; pride at the accomplishments of both Choir as an organization, and the accomplishments of Choir’s Voices members; gratitude for our community, clients and partners; and hope in the knowledge that though this door closes, others open for ambitious changemakers to keep moving forward."

Dreizler and Gagnon said that Choir has seen a significant drop in industry demand for diversity initiatives in the past two years. Specifically, there has been less interest in allocating dollars toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, particularly regarding racial diversity efforts. In addition, the two have been increasingly busy in their own business ventures, leaving them less time to devote to Choir. “Given our reduced availability, we came to the difficult conclusion that we no longer had the bandwidth to provide clients and Voices members with the excellent experience they deserve and expect,” they said in a statement.

Dreizler told InsuranceNewsNet that a range of factors led to Choir’s closing, but two factors were especially relevant.

“The willingness to discuss and advance racial equity that followed George Floyd's murder appears to have been temporary for many companies and organizations,” she said. Dreizler added that some organizations are dialing back any mention of DEI out of fear of being targeted by legal attacks from anti-DEI campaigns.

Choir will offer a modified version of its Voices database for anyone to use at  hellochoir.com/voices from now through mid-2025.

“It's free to use so conference organizers and journalists can still easily tap into a diverse network of brilliant financial services experts,” Dreizler said.

Dreizler said she and Gagnon are keeping the door open for anyone who wants Choir to retake the stage.

“Liv and I will be cheering on our fellow changemakers in the industry,” she said “If organizations want to formally partner to continue building what we started, we're open to chatting.”

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].