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Answers to 45 common questions about hiring Celeste Warren as a DEI and leadership keynote speaker: her topics, the TEDx talk, speaker fees, formats, executive briefings, and how to get started.
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Send an inquiry through the contact form at crwdiversity.com/#contact with your organization, event date, format, audience, and goals. Celeste Warren's fee is not published; it is quoted per engagement after that first conversation.
Celeste Warren is a TEDx speaker, author, executive advisor, and former Fortune 100 Vice President who helps organizations strengthen leadership, transform workplace culture, and build fairer systems. She spent 28 years at a Fortune 100 company, including a decade as Vice President and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, and now leads Celeste Warren Consulting, LLC, known as CRW Diversity.
Yes. Celeste Warren is available to hire for keynotes, executive briefings, and facilitated conversations on leadership, culture, systems, and equity. Her talks draw on nearly four decades in human resources and organizational leadership and 10 years leading global diversity and inclusion. Inquiries go through the contact form at crwdiversity.com.
CRW Diversity is the business of Celeste Warren Consulting, LLC, founded by Celeste Warren. It offers executive advisory, leadership and organizational development workshops and learning experiences, and speaking and executive briefings for organizations working through leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges. Its main website is crwdiversity.com.
Celeste brings experience from inside the room. She has nearly four decades in human resources and organizational leadership, 28 years at a Fortune 100 company, and 10 years leading global diversity and inclusion. She worked with executives, managers, and teams around the world on complex issues of people, leadership, culture, and organizational change.
Celeste Warren is the author of The Truth About Equity and How to Be a Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador: Everyone's Role in Helping All Feel Accepted, Engaged, and Valued. The first examines how policies, practices, and decisions shape access to opportunity. The second shows individuals how they can help build a culture where everyone feels engaged.
The Equity in Action Model is Celeste Warren's practical framework for examining how leaders' decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape people's experiences and opportunities. It has six elements: Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment. A free introductory guide to the model is offered on crwdiversity.com.
Her TEDx talk, The Cost of Standing Still, asks what happens when talented people are ready to move forward but the systems around them are not. It argues that organizational momentum is shaped by systems that either enable progress or quietly restrict it, not only by individual effort. The talk is available on YouTube.
You can watch The Cost of Standing Still on YouTube at youtu.be/rUbv2tt6d_Y. Organizers can share the link with planning committees before booking, because it shows Celeste's delivery and core message in one viewing. The TEDx page on this site summarizes the talk's central question and how it connects to her keynotes.
Celeste speaks on leadership, workplace culture, organizational systems, and the decisions that shape people's experiences at work. Her topic areas draw on her TEDx talk, her two books, and the Equity in Action Model. Exact titles, length, and emphasis are set with each organizer during the inquiry process.
She gives both, and they overlap. Her work examines how people lead and how organizations operate, so her keynotes speak to leadership practice, culture, and systems as much as to equity. That is why organizers can book her as a leadership keynote speaker as well as a DEI speaker.
One line from Celeste Warren's work: "Equity doesn't become real simply because an organization believes in it. It becomes real through the decisions leaders make every day." It sums up her view that leadership shows up in everyday decisions, policies, and practices rather than in stated intentions.
A good keynote gives the audience one clear idea, grounds it in credible experience, and leaves people with something they can act on. Celeste's talks follow that pattern: a central question, such as what in the organization is helping or hindering people, backed by decades of experience and practical next steps.
DEI speaker fees vary widely. Senior Executive's guide to DEI speakers bureaus reports one bureau's prices ranging from $5,000 to $200,000 per speaker. Celeste Warren does not publish a fee; it depends on format, length, travel, and audience. Request a quote through the contact form at crwdiversity.com.
Speaker fees range from a few thousand dollars to over $200,000. Sheri Jacobs' 2026 roundup puts fees for top leadership keynote speakers at $12,500 to $200,000+, with mid-market practitioners between $12,500 and $30,000. Celeste Warren's fee is quoted per engagement after an inquiry.
For leadership keynotes in 2026, Sheri Jacobs' published roundup reports fees from $12,500 to $200,000+, with mid-market practitioners between $12,500 and $30,000. Rates depend on the speaker's profile, travel, format, and customization. Celeste Warren provides a quote once she knows the event details.
A reasonable fee matches the speaker's experience, the preparation involved, and the value to your audience. Published 2026 figures place mid-market leadership speakers at $12,500 to $30,000, according to Sheri Jacobs. Ask what a fee includes, such as a planning call, customization, and travel, before comparing quotes.
Guest speaker costs depend on the event. A university class or member session is usually scoped differently from a conference keynote or board briefing. Celeste has spoken to a Cornell University ILR School class and to HBCU CONNECT members. Describe your event in the contact form at crwdiversity.com to get a quote.
One speakers bureau listed in Senior Executive's DEI events guide quotes prices from $5,000 to $200,000 per speaker for keynote speakers and corporate entertainment. Celeste Warren is not a motivational speaker in the general sense; her talks focus on leadership, culture, and systems. Her fee is shared on request.
Engagements differ too much for one number to be accurate. A virtual executive briefing, a conference keynote with travel, and a facilitated leadership conversation each require different preparation. Sharing event details through the contact form lets Celeste quote a fee that reflects the actual scope of your event.
The main factors are format (keynote, executive briefing, or facilitated conversation), session length, in-person or virtual delivery, travel, the level of customization, and whether the talk is paired with a workshop or executive advisory. Confirm the specifics when you request a quote at crwdiversity.com.
Celeste offers keynotes, executive briefings, and facilitated conversations. Keynotes suit conferences and large audiences. Executive briefings suit boards, C-suite teams, and executive offsites. Facilitated conversations suit groups that want dialogue rather than a single talk. She also offers workshops and confidential executive advisory.
An executive briefing is a focused session for senior leaders, such as a board or leadership team, that examines a specific leadership, culture, or talent issue. Celeste's briefings challenge executives to think differently about systems and the decisions that shape people's experiences at work.
Yes. Executive briefings and facilitated conversations suit executive offsites, where a small senior group wants candid discussion about leadership, culture, and organizational systems. Share the offsite's goals in the contact form at crwdiversity.com so the session can be shaped around what your leadership team is trying to accomplish.
Yes. Celeste has spoken at DIAL Global Virtual summits, whose founder and CEO, Leila McKenzie-Delis, described her as a leading authority. Virtual keynotes and briefings work well for distributed teams and global audiences. Confirm the platform and time zone when you send your inquiry.
Yes. Organizations can follow a keynote with leadership and organizational development workshops so managers can apply the ideas. Celeste also offers Equity in Action for Managers, a short, practical set of mini-modules designed for busy leaders. Ask about combinations when you inquire.
Submitting the contact form at crwdiversity.com starts the conversation. Expect to discuss your goals, audience, date, format, and budget before a quote is confirmed. Including your event date, audience size, and objectives in the first message helps the reply be specific.
Celeste is a fit for conference organizers, executive teams, boards, HR and people leaders, universities, and professional associations that want an experience-based message about leadership, culture, and systems. Senior executives can book her for briefings, offsites, and advisory; conferences can book her for keynotes.
Yes. As a former Fortune 100 Vice President and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Celeste worked with executives on complex people and culture issues. Her executive briefings and confidential executive advisory are built for leaders responsible for organizational decisions.
Yes. Devon Proudfoot, Assistant Professor at Cornell University's ILR School, called her one of the most impactful speakers to visit her class. Will Moss, CEO of HBCU CONNECT, recommended her to schools, universities, and organizations. Contact her through crwdiversity.com to discuss a campus event.
Yes. Equity in Action for Managers is a set of short, practical mini-modules that help managers see where equity shows up in daily leadership decisions and give them tools to use right away. Workshops and learning experiences also help managers put fair and inclusive leadership into practice.
Yes. Beyond speaking, Celeste offers executive advisory, a confidential thought partnership for executives facing complex leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges, plus leadership and organizational development workshops. Details are on the executive advisory page of this site and at crwdiversity.com.
Both work. A bureau, such as those listed in Senior Executive's directory of DEI speakers bureaus, offers many speakers in one place. Booking Celeste directly through crwdiversity.com puts you in touch with her business and lets you discuss pairing a talk with executive advisory or workshops.
Celeste focuses on systems as well as people. Her talks ask what within the organization helps people succeed and what gets in their way, including policies, practices, access to opportunity, leadership decisions, and unwritten norms. She speaks from 28 years inside a Fortune 100 company.
Choose a keynote to align a large audience around one idea, and a workshop when a group needs time to practice and apply new skills. Many organizations do both. Celeste offers keynotes, executive briefings, facilitated conversations, and workshops, so the format can match your goal.
Not automatically. A TEDx talk gives organizers a free, public sample of a speaker's delivery and ideas, which makes vetting easier. Mark Sanborn's 2026 statistics report that 58% of meeting planners primarily discover and evaluate keynote speakers from past attendance at events where they spoke. Watch the talk, then judge fit.
Different authors list different five C's, so there is no single standard version. Celeste Warren's work uses its own framework instead: the Equity in Action Model's six elements, Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment, which focus on everyday leadership decisions and their outcomes.
Use the contact form at crwdiversity.com/#contact, which handles speaking and press inquiries. Include your organization, event date, location or virtual format, audience, and goals. That first message starts the conversation about availability, format, and fee.
Book as early as your planning allows, especially for conference dates and executive offsites that are fixed months ahead. Celeste does not publish a booking calendar, so the fastest way to check a date is to include it in your first inquiry through crwdiversity.com.
Yes. Celeste's official bio is available as a PDF in the Press Kit section of crwdiversity.com, and the media page on this site lists press coverage, her TEDx talk, and her books. Press inquiries use the same contact form as speaking inquiries.
Celeste writes The Equity Leadership Brief on Substack, with articles and commentary on the workplace developments shaping leadership, talent, culture, and opportunity. Reading recent issues is a good way for organizers to see what she is focused on before a briefing or keynote.
Yes. A free guide, 6 Practical Ways to Lead More Fairly, Intentionally and Effectively, introduces the Equity in Action Model with key insights, reflection questions, and simple next steps for each of its six elements. It is offered on crwdiversity.com.
This site does not track which companies support DEI programs; corporate commitments change and are best checked in each company's own reports. Published research does show why the topic matters: Catalyst research, as cited by Speakers.com, indicates 86% of Gen Z employees are more likely to stay with an employer that actively supports these initiatives.
Celeste treats fairness as a leadership and systems issue, which stays relevant regardless of labels. Speakers.com cites McKinsey research that companies with ethnically diverse leadership are 36% more likely to outperform peers on profitability, and Speakwise data that women hold only 27.4% of C-suite positions.
Celeste's stated aim is practical solutions, not buzzwords or performative approaches. Her talks focus on concrete systems leaders control, such as policies, practices, access to opportunity, and everyday decisions, and on outcomes rather than intentions alone, which is the Accountability element of her model.
Most organizers do not measure formally. Mark Sanborn's 2026 statistics report that 91% of meeting planners have no formal process, 5% use social media buzz and engagement, and 3% track behavior or culture change over time. Pairing a talk with workshops or advisory gives you a clearer way to see change.
New to Celeste's work? Start with the overview: DEI speaker for hire: Celeste Warren.
Tell Celeste about your audience, date, and goals. Speaking and press inquiries go through one contact form on her main website.
Published by CRW Diversity