The Women of The Female Quotient

The Female Quotient (The FQ) is a powerful force for equality, inspiring change and changing lives. And its legendary Equality Lounge is an invaluable mainstay for events like Advertising Week, Cannes Lions, the World Economic Forum, and CES–providing a safe space and driving the conversation forward. We’ve had the honor of partnering with The Female Quotient on Pass the Mic initiatives, and our recent collaboration on the Pass the Mic lounge at CES in Las Vegas is the latest example.

Jocelyn Hudak, Senior Director, Content and Digital Marketing interviewed nearly a dozen powerful female leaders in our co-branded lounge, including some of the amazing women from The FQ. In this interview, Shelley Zalis, Talia Bender Small, and Amber Coleman-Mortley share their thoughts on the importance, impact, and success of The FQ.

Get to know these amazing women who bring the organization’s mission to life. 

Everyone is welcome, no exception

Meet Chief Troublemaker, Shelley Zalis, Founder and CEO of The Female Quotient. She is a trailblazer for women in the workplace, with a mission to close the gender gap. Working with Fortune 500 companies, impact organizations, and conscious leaders, Shelley and The FQ are curating experiences, media, and solutions that advance gender equality. She is an acclaimed speaker and dynamic moderator who has interviewed top-level CEOs, notable celebrities, world leaders, and prominent female figures. And she is an exclusive contributor to TIME, a columnist for Forbes, and is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. 

Highlight: “It's a space that truly is inclusive, and I think that's the most incredible thing. I think the unbadged piece is the most important piece. It's unbadged, whether the virtual, the online, the in-person… Everyone is welcome, with no exception. The vulnerability that happens in here and, by the way, broadcast out to 100 countries, is so remarkable. Men and women. Our manels that we have in here, men at the end are hugging each other—they do group hugs. It's just so remarkable that the space was designed by women for everyone.” – Shelley Zalis

Over 3M women strong

Meet Talia Bender Small, President of The Female Quotient. She is passionate about increasing visibility, leadership, and entrepreneurship opportunities for women. Talia has been the cornerstone of The FQ since its inception, overseeing a multi-talented team and client partnerships. She is instrumental in building the first and largest community of female leaders at conferences and events around the world. 

Highlight: “It's been the most incredible journey. We've grown tremendously. Today we have the largest community of women in the workplace globally. We have over three million women in our network. We just actually yesterday launched The FQ’s media and content business, and we are developing a lot of media packages. And we have a whole focus going into that space. And the lounges are bigger than ever. We keep outgrowing our spaces each year, and it's really amazing.” – Talia Bender Small

Having transparent, vulnerable conversations

Meet Amber Colemen-Mortley, Senior Director of Community and Culture for The FQ. Amber supports The Female Quotient’s work to bring equality to the workplace by expanding the reach and connectivity of The Female Quotient community. She produces and hosts the LinkedIn Live community conversation series, Power of the Pack, which engages timely topics through a culturally relevant and intersectional lens.

Highlight: “We're broaching taboo topics—things like menopause, things like how do we support survivors of intimate partner violence, things like mental health—things that we really need to talk about and have these very transparent, vulnerable conversations. Because at the end of the day, we're all human. And I think that's what the beauty of The FQ does. We pull vulnerability out and bring it out into the forefront.” – Amber Colemen-Mortley

With so many exciting things in the works, The FQ will continue to be an unstoppable force for change, elevating women, and inspiring the next generation. 

For more inspiration, check out the Pass the Mic page.