Avengers of the Week | Craig McLaren and Diarmaid Lawlor
We had to name two Avengers of the Week because they both took a big stand against gender inequality. After being made aware of the gender imbalance of the Planning in Scotland Conference speaker list (0 women, 5 men), two of the speakers on panel withdrew their names — Craig McLaren, Director, Royal Town Planning Institute Scotland and Diarmaid Lawlor, Director of Place at Architecture and Design Scotland — stating they could not participate unless a change was made. That means the organizers lost 40% of their panel in one fell swoop.
Want to join them in their quest for equality? Take the GenderAvenger Pledge and vow that you will not serve as a panelist at a public conference when there are no women on the panel.
This week’s Avengers of the Week took a big stand against gender inequality. Craig McLaren and Diarmaid Lawlor, both slated to speak at the Planning in Scotland Conference, withdrew their names, stating they could not participate unless a change was made to the current speaker list of 0 women and 5 men. In one day, the organisers of the event lost 40% of their speakers.
.@RTPIScotland & @urbscotland achieve rock star status in our book for stepping up. #genderavenger https://twitter.com/Plannnna/status/873251057798975488