SPEAKERS
Max Siegel 2024 Speech Titles
When asked what he does for a living, Max Siegel, Director of Trans& and content creator @TheyreQueer, defines himself as a “Career Queer”. After spending years in partnerships and marketing, Max began sharing his own story of gender transition on social media and as a public speaker, aiming to cut through the misinformation and misunderstandings around Trans and LGBTQ+ people. Today he speaks and consults for organisations all over the world to help them better understand, support and celebrate LGBTQ+ team members and customers.
Specialising in the “why before the what” when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusion, Max uses an approach of honesty, vulnerability and lived experience to allow his audiences to understand how it feels to be an LGBTQ+ person in the world today. As well as discussing the importance of recognising and supporting the growing number of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce today, Max also covers the real business value of inclusion both internally and externally.
Always sticking to his key values of positive representation and authenticity, Max shares his own life and experiences online to show that Trans joy is both real and possible. Taking the same approach with clients, Max always begins his work with a reminder that is always okay to get things wrong if you’re happy to learn and be corrected. His sessions aim to help everyone feel comfortable, curious and empowered to create a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ people.
As well as LGBTQ+ topics, Max also speaks and consults on neurodiversity, content creation, sobriety and online abuse. When he’s not working, you can usually find him on a beach with his fiancé Lori and whippet Twiglet (star of #TwigletFriday on LinkedIn).
An intensely personal fireside chat where Max runs us through the timeline of his transition against a backdrop of the realities of being Trans in the world today.
We’ll talk about his experiences of coming out, surgery, hormones and navigating the world as a trans person. Max will also discuss tips on being a trans ally, using pronouns and how organisations can be more trans inclusive.
This session uses a combination of history, up to the minute world events and lived experiences to give context and understanding to the existence and celebration of Pride month. We’ll explore the LGBTQ+ timeline with a lens of understanding current legal and social attitudes globally, and discuss the importance and power of corporate activism.
It’s the time of year where brands start thinking about their Pride campaigns for the following year. In this session, Max will cover 5 key elements of a great LGBTQ+ pride campaign. This session will ensure that you can avoid the rainbow-washing accusations, make authentic impact and contact with the community.
We’ll explore the LGBTQ+ timeline with a lens of understanding current legal and social attitudes globally, and discuss the importance and power of corporate activism and inclusion. Max will also introduce his own journey and experiences as a transgender man to give context to the session.
Understanding the importance of culture and communication as a base for inclusion and equity.
Key areas of structural and policy changes, with best practice examples.
Designed to give context to conversations about pronouns and gender neutral bathrooms, this session gives the “why” before the “what” when it comes to gender diversity at work.
A custom session looking at the role the tech industry plays in trans inclusion and empowerment, both via their workforce and their external influence.
A fireside chat between Max and non-binary activist and parent Marlowe using their experiences to discuss speaking to children about trans people and gender identity.
An intimate session exploring the perspectives that transition can give on masculinity and mental health. This session will explore how being perceived as male changes both external and internal perceptions, in the context of mental health, gender equality and employment.
Addressing online abuse and trolling from the perspective of a Trans man on the internet. This session will share lived experiences of existing openly online, discussing how to deal with safety issues and what we can do to help.
A dually retrospective and forward thinking session, addressing where LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace has brought us to, and where it needs to go from here.
Andrea Callender, Inclusion & Diversity Director, Alexander McQueen
Max is widely recognised as a trusted expert who wants to help companies to understand and welcome LGBTQIA+ people as employees, service users and customers.
They did a fantastic session for us as part of Pride Month where they shared very valuable insights from their personal experience. We got so much positive feedback from our employees about how safe and seen Max made them feel. Also about how included, they felt by us inviting Max in to share and inspire us. They are a great speaker.
Natalie Ho, Global Director, Learning & Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Clarks
The most significant work Max has collaboratively driven with our team, was our LGBTQ+ Internal Panel, where we invited internal speakers to participate, discuss and bring awareness to this specific topic. We had not run anything like this internally in the past, and not on such an important topic. As such, we wanted to make sure we had someone that had the experience and gravitas to lead the conversation amongst our guest. With that, we invited Max to be our guest and host for the session.
Max was incredibly proactive and provided support and comfort to our internal panellists, but also went above and beyond to extend support to not just myself, but also the executive team and sponsors.
Laura Jones
Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Saïd Business School
“Max came to the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, on 22nd February 2023, as the invited keynote speaker for the University’s Annual LGBT History month lecture.
Max’s lecture ‘A personal story of transition’ was delivered to a packed lecture room with a wide online audience. He spoke eloquently about trans history, his own lived experiences and the specific challenges and persecution which the community is unjustly facing today, and how individuals and organisations can step up and take action to address transphobia. Max was incredibly engaging, authentic and absolutely lovely to work with, I look forward to future collaborations!
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LGBTQ+ & Transgender Inclusion Consultant, Speaker and Activist
