I regularly promote speaking opportunities for women,and in Washington DC, one of the ongoing options is the ignite events at ignite-dc.com. Although I usually just promote and attend, those I know who grace the stage including some amazing ones;

• Shonali Burke, The Tragic Story of Web4.0
• Amy Senger, The Final (Tidal) Wave of Feminism
• Ananda Leeke Who's living inside of me?
• Lynette Long, Ph.D., DC Through a Woman's Eyes
• Khadijah Ali-Coleman, Motherhood is Revolutionary: How choosing to parent is the "anti" in today's times

Although I chose to list mostly women, some of the men did a great job as well. Ignite DC has definitely put effort into having diverse speakers.

This year I submitted. I've been working on this idea for years about innovations that don't get national coverage but that affect so many people every day. And those, that get so much attention, but may not have life altering affects. I am alive today because of an experiment. A man had an idea but couldn't perform it himself. This idea would either kill me or save my life. I rarely talk about this experience for various reasons, but it reminded me of the places where ideas come from. People that are unlikely or improbable and yet, in our current society, we spend our days looking for the "usual suspects" to generate great ideas and innovations. 

My presentation will give you a glimmer of some of the big and small ideas that have changed a few lives and those that have affected millions. Some are from people who you would never expect. Looking forward to the opportunity to share it for the first time at Ignite DC.

If you have seen the movie "The Usual Suspects", you should know why I love the name of this proposal, because of it's perfect analogy.