Antonia Forster is a Senior XR/AI Engineer, TEDx speaker, and software developer working at the forefront of emerging technology. Originally a published scientist specialising in ethology and complexity science, she taught herself to code and made the leap into tech. She combines scientific clarity, technical expertise, and storytelling to create impactful XR (mixed-reality) and AI projects, as well as educational workshops and outreach. Her flagship project - the world's first LGBTQ+ VR Museum - premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and has received multiple awards. Antonia is a prolific speaker whose clients include NASA, Meta, Deloitte, and Qualcomm. She is a passionate advocate for under-represented voices, and for ethical, equitable technology.
All sessions by Antonia →"When I came out of the closet I was blackmailed, threatened, even bribed. But of all the shocking words that were said to me, three stood out in particular - 'It's not natural'." The idea that certain behaviour is "unnatural" is often used to justify bigotry, especially against people who are LGBT, polyamorous, or in any way non-traditional.
But is it true? Antonia Forster is a bisexual, non-monogamous biologist that wants to set the record straight. What does "natural" mean? Can animals be gay? Are there always two sexes? Join Antonia in this inspiration session and prepare to see the animal kingdom as you've never seen it before…
During the expert session, Antonia bridges science and personal experiences, engaging the audience through storytelling and interactive exercises with the Mentimeter app. She shares insights on animal behaviors and their connections to human identity and acceptance, addressing misconceptions and underrepresented stories from her own experience.
Understand how exploring uncommon animal behaviors can challenge our assumptions and broaden our perspectives on complex human experiences like identity and acceptance.
Learn from Antonia's personal experience that not all coming-out stories are successful, and the importance of sharing these underrepresented narratives for a more comprehensive understanding of the LGBTQ experience.
Gain insights into how studying unusual animal behaviors can broaden our understanding of human experiences, particularly identity and acceptance.
In this expert session, Antonia Forster explores the intriguing connections between various animal behaviors and human experiences, specifically those related to identity and acceptance. Starting off, Antonia emphasizes the significance of understanding the underlying science behind these phenomena as some actions may stem from malice or ignorance.
She uses captivating examples from the natural world, such as bonobos, clownfish, hyenas, and lesser-known species to illustrate her points.
Antonia is passionate about shedding light on these rare examples, believing they deserve more recognition and awareness. She then shares her personal experiences of coming out to her family, acknowledging that not all stories end with immediate acceptance.
While some relatives were supportive from the start, others were not, and Antonia even had to cut ties with a few who never accepted her identity.
Antonia believes it's crucial to share underrepresented experiences like hers as they provide a more comprehensive understanding of the LGBTQ experience. Through her insightful discussion, Antonia highlights the importance of embracing differences, exploring the science behind human behaviors, and sharing personal stories to promote acceptance and understanding.
No prior knowledge is assumed. It is built for a general working audience, and people who already know the subject get the research and the practical side rather than an introduction. What the hour itself covers: "When I came out of the closet I was blackmailed, threatened, even bribed. But of all the shocking words that were said to me, three stood out in particular - 'It's not natural'." The idea that certain behaviour is "unnatural" is often used to justify bigotry, especially against people who are LGBT, polyamorous, or in...
Antonia Forster is one of the experts we auditioned ourselves, and we produce every session so we see how each one lands. Participants rate this session 4.5 out of 5, across 384 responses, and rate Antonia personally 4.7 out of 5.
It is interactive, and the block higher up on this page says exactly how for this session. Nobody has to speak up who does not want to: the chat and the polls carry most of it, and the questions can come in anonymously.
It runs 45 min / 15 min: the talk, then live questions. All you do is pick a date. We brief Antonia, produce the session, host and moderate it, run the Q&A, and send you the report within an hour of the end.
A team, a department, an employee network or every single employee at once, with no cap and no per-seat price. It runs inside your own Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, or on a branded page we build. No integration, no login, no company device or e-mail.
The session is delivered in English. You can add high accuracy live subtitles in 8, 16 or 24 languages, so everyone follows in their own. That is a paid option, priced by the number of languages you need.
No, and that is by design. There is nothing to install, nothing to integrate and no connection to your systems, so there is nothing for IT to validate: we join your own Teams, Zoom or Meet as a guest speaker, or we host a page and your people open a link. No software, no accounts, and no data of yours that we can reach. It is why hundreds of companies, among them some of the largest technology and financial firms in the world, were able to start within a day.
We never receive or hold personal data about your employees. Because the session runs in your own environment, attendance and identity stay with you, and what we report back is aggregated: numbers, ratings and survey answers, not people. That is also why IT approval usually takes minutes rather than weeks.
You keep the recording and can share it internally. You also get attendance over time, participant ratings for the content and the speaker, the survey answers, and the topics your people asked for next.
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