About the GSF

At The Heart of Our Community

As of January 2023, the Global Speakers Federation comprises 17 independent speaker associations representing nations and individuals from over twenty countries and regions. Our member association’s countries include Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, India, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, UK, and Ireland.

With more speaking associations being formed all over the world, the Federation restructured in 2018. This transition engages association leaders in the Federation and reaffirms the vision of global collaboration. We look forward to welcoming more who are currently in formation and development

Our Mission

The Global Speakers Federation is proud to be at the very heart of our global community. The GSF champions to support and provides resources to help develop and grow associations of professional speakers worldwide.

Value Proposition

  1. Strengthen worldwide recognition of professional speaking within the meetings industry.

  2. Provide support to member associations on forming, managing, and leading associations, including sharing best practices.

  3. Build a global community of like-minded people to encourage alliances, connections, and support networks.

Diversity and Discrimination

June 25, 2020

As the Presidential Leadership Team of the Global Speakers Federation, we add our voices as professional speakers to respect diversity and to condemn discrimination of any form. As such, we also condemn violence of any form associated with said discrimination.

The Global Speakers Federation and its member associations are inclusive societies of professional speakers. We recognize that words with no actions do not make for sustainable improvements and that we must take concrete steps to affect future behaviors. Thus, the Global Speakers Federation will actively examine and update our communications, policies, and procedures to prevent any intentional or unintentional bias. 

Initially, we will be re-evaluating all our communications with the member associations, reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding for future Global Speakers Summits regarding the selection of speakers, and the election process for future Vice Presidents.

We will continue to listen, strive to understand, learn, empathize, and then act.

We look forward to working with our member associations. We are open to feedback and suggestions to improve our actions as we promote and support equity and inclusion in our lives and the speaking community.


The 2022-2023 Presidential Leadership Team of the Global Speakers Federation:

Charlotte Kemp
President

Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP
President Elect

Mike Handcock, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow
Vice President

Martin Laschkolnig
Immediate Past President

Shari Bricks, CMP
Executive Director