Choir, a diversity tech platform and financial services conference certification program, is closing after about three years, according to a letter from co-founders Liz Gagnon and Sonya Dreizler.
In the letter, Gagnon and Dreizler say the business will shutter as of Dec. 31, including its “Conference Diversity Certification,” which aimed to create an industry standard for diversity at conferences, and the company’s “Choir Voices” platform, which connected individuals to conferences, podcasts and media opportunities.
When citing the reasons for the closure, Gagnon and Dreizler acknowledged that “startups are risky” and that “disrupting the status quo is hard work” and framed Choir’s difficulty in the context of the broader headwinds facing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“In what comes as no surprise to anyone involved with DEI initiatives, Choir has seen a significant drop in industry demand for diversity initiatives in the past two years,” the letter read. “Specifically, there has been less interest in allocating dollars toward DEI initiatives, particularly regarding racial diversity efforts.”
Gagnon and Dreizler also admitted that both principals had less time to devote to running the business than when it first launched, and they came to the “difficult conclusion” that they didn’t have the bandwidth to continue the organization at the level of quality they wanted.
Choir launched in late 2021. Its certification was the first of its kind in the industry, and its goal was to urge conference organizers to invite more women, nonbinary speakers and people of color to speak at industry events.
Conference organizers would work with Choir to asses their events, and the company would use that data to build frameworks to help conference organizers meet higher diversity standards each year. Choir would score each conference on its commitment to DEI, and scores of 60 or higher would land conference eligibility for certification and a bronze, silver, or gold badge to indicate its commitment to the issue.
The company launched its Voices platform in September 2022. Though the platform will close at the end of this year, a modified public version will remain available through mid-2025, according to the letter from Gagnon and Dreizler.
The co-founders stressed that Choir’s work would continue after the organization ended, and the principals looked forward to partnering with others striving for similar goals.
“Many of you are also working to make financial services more inclusive and more representative of the world around us,” they wrote. “While this chapter closes for us, we hope our progress serves as a stepping stone for other people.”
