MARTHA
BURWELL
Martha Burwell is a social scientist and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) researcher and consultant. She holds an MSc in intersectional gender studies, and has trained and collaborated with some of the world’s most cutting-edge intersectionality researchers.
Martha’s mission is to help make the enormous body of DEI research more accessible, relevant, and applicable. Previously a global operations director in the nonprofit world, she combines her deep theoretical knowledge with operational expertise to help organizations “translate” DEI theory into positive action. To do this, she specializes in using data to pinpoint DEI opportunities, then takes a design-based approach to create low-risk solutions.
She has led research-focused DEI projects in
the startup world, with nonprofits, at universities, for tech events, and in the sports industry.
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Recently, Martha led the first study on gender in Seattle startups, in collaboration with Ruchika Tulshyan. This study collected data on Seattle startups on topics such as gender and racial wage gaps, impact on parenting, access to startup resources, and industry culture. The findings are free to the public and can be found at www.CatalyzeSeattle.org