Rachel Sklar: Changing the Ratio Every Day
Co-founder, Change The Ratio, The Li.st; Author
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sklarra
Twitter: @rachelsklar
Bio:
Rachel Sklar is the co-founder of Change The Ratio, which increases visibility and opportunity for women in tech & new media, and TheLi.st, a network & media platform for awesome women (supported by the Knight Foundation). A former lawyer who writes about media, politics, culture & tech, she was a founding editor at Mediaite and the Huffington Post.
Innovating in Field of Work:
• Though The Li.st she has created a community of women who lift each other up, all day, every day — and who thank Rachel (and her co-founder) daily for it.
• She is forging a new kind of female community – where women can connect for both business and emotional support with an openness that is unusual in the business world.
Impact:
• Rachel brings massive, actionable awareness to the inequities of women entrepreneurs, women-led startups and women in the workplace.
• She founded Change the Ratio in spring 2010 when a “power list” of 100 tech industry leaders had only seven women, Never shy to speak up, Sklar gave the digital media equivalent of a slap upside the chops. Not that she doesn’t like dudes; she just thinks there are women in the industry who don’t get their due and her work has raised awareness and in fact changed the ratio at many male dominated conferences.
• Named to the Silicon Alley 100 in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, Fast Company’s “League of Extraordinary Women,” Forbes’ “Women Changing The World,” JWA’s “Making Trouble, Making History” award, numerous honors and awards for her writing and her activism.
• Rachel’s other initiatives include founding Charitini, a social enterprise to facilitate group giving around events, and CTRComedy – an all-women comedy initiative which quadrupled the number of women performing comedy at SXSW in 2011 and 2012.
Role Model:
• A TechStars mentor and an advisor to several startups, including Vox Media, The Daily Muse, Lover.ly, Votizen & TeachAIDS.org, and is a proud Board member at She’s The First.
• Member of the Reboot, TED & Summit communities and Lean In Foundation launch team.
• She encouraging the kind of direct, thoughtful, embracing conversations among groups of people who never would have known each other but for her circle.
• There’s not a woman on The Li.st who can’t name something Rachel has pushed them to do.
Reinvention / Momentum:
From corporate lawyer to change agent. As a former editor she’s leading by example, started her own company and app (The Li.st) and re-applying learning from her digital days to help many other women.
“I think of Rachel as my godmother: she was on the first jury that voted me grant money to start my startup she put me on the stage at NY Tech Meetup; she helped me find shared office space; she is always ready with a well-placed suggestion or connection or a helpful intro.”