Acast For A Decade: Voices Behind the Company
Podcast
Acast to mark International Women’s Day with global initiatives to ‘break the bias’ in tech and podcasting
Acast to mark International Women’s Day with global initiatives to ‘break the bias’ in tech and podcasting
2022.03.02
Acast, the world’s largest independent podcasting company, is organizing a number of internal and external events in markets around the world, centered on breaking the bias for women in tech.
Coinciding with International Women’s Day (March 8), activities will be aimed at a broad audience — from employees through to those with a passion for podcasting — and are all tied to this year’s official theme of ‘breaking the bias’.
Initiatives include:
Global
Finding your voice as a woman through podcasting: Acast will host a session for podcasters under the Aclass banner, focused on careers in podcasting — with Cheryl Brumley, Head of Audio at the Financial Times, Katie Baxter, Senior Podcast Producer at Stak, and Sophie Herdman, Acast’s Global Content Partnerships Director.
The chat will be followed by a discussion between the hosts of Sisters in the City and freelance producer Pilar Nalwimba, about finding your voice as women through podcasting.
More details can be found here.
Championing Acast’s women in tech: An internal Acast panel event, open to all Acast employees, will feature female tech team members from around the world — including Ioana Havsfrid, Director of Engineering, Katie Rogers, Global Head of Technical Content development, Lauren Tharp, Product Manager, Liz Hustedt, Engineering Manager, and Marie Abesamis, Global Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships.
Ireland
A Women in Audio event is being held in Dublin to celebrate key female Irish voices in podcasting. Hosted by female Irish podcasters – including Deirdre O’Kane, Caroline Foran and Jane Gogan – this session will discuss topics including the future of audio, growth, and longevity in podcasting. There will also be a live podcast recording and Acast Instagram takeover from Louise McSharry.
Germany
Germany’s longest-existing feminist podcast, Der Lila Podcast, joins the Acast Creator Network — just in time for International Women’s Day. Watch out for a full announcement soon.
Acast will also be sponsoring a women in business event called Female Angel Investors, hosted by the Acast podcast Female Business Angels. The event will be recorded and the panel discussion published as a bilingual podcast episode (in German and English) for Female Business Angels at the end of March.
In addition, for the month of March, Acast will be dedicating its ‘Acast Recommends’ house ads in Germany to feminist podcasts only.
Australia
The Australian team has launched a cross-promotional initiative where five podcasters record an ad endorsing two other podcasts — all hosted and led by women. This is running as an augmented reality campaign, heard across relevant verticals such as Lifestyle, Society & Culture, and Health & Wellness.
Creators taking part include The Ash London Podcast, A Podcast Of One’s Own with Julia Gillard, After Work Drinks, Do You F*****g Mind?, Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press, The Outer Sanctum, You're in Good Company, The Art of Decluttering, The Frae and Too Peas in a Podcast.
France
In France, International Women’s Day will be used to springboard Acast Cares – a global Acast initiative giving employees the freedom to volunteer their time to work with charities. During March — and throughout 2022 — the French team will spend time volunteering at MaMaMa, a French charity supporting young mothers. They’re also encouraging local podcasters to get involved.
Nordics
The team will elevate female podcasts within the Acast network by including them in ‘Acast Recommends’ house ads throughout the week. Female podcasters will speak warmly, encouraging and inspiring about things they’ve heard in other female-led podcasts.
Marianne Boström, Chief People Officer at Acast, said: “Acast is committed to using its platform for good — not just for International Women’s Day but beyond — in support of an equal world, free of stereotypes. The company has a long-standing commitment to creating a community externally, and an environment internally, focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.”