Language is the main method through which a culture's values, norms, and beliefs are communicated—and shaped. Editors have an influential role to play in countering stereotypes, calling out insidious sexist and transphobic tropes, and helping authors understand the impact of harmful language.

This 90-minute webinar will go over best practices for using editing as a tool for promoting gender equity. You'll learn concrete ways to identify and counter language that harms and erases women and trans people, and to make space in text for the whole world of gender expression, gender identity, and gendered bodies. We'll also go over how gender equity frameworks benefit trans and cis people alike.

This webinar is designed for editors of all levels, all gender identities and experiences, and all fields. No matter what type of work you do, you'll come away inspired and empowered to use your red pen and tracked changes as tools for solidarity and inclusion.

Alex Kapitan (no pronouns) has made a career out of helping people align their words with their values. Founder of the language project Radical Copyeditor and co-leader of the trans-led Transforming Hearts Collective, Alex draws on two decades of experience in the publishing field and in national-level activism and community organizing to support editors, writers, educators, cultural workers, healthcare providers, media makers, and many others in understanding and utilizing the power of language to counter oppression and create positive change in the world. Alex is sought out as a speaker, trainer, and consultant and has worked with companies as diverse as Netflix; Getty; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Kirkus; Center for American Progress; Editors Canada; Pearson; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Nature Conservancy.

This webinar originally aired on May 8, 2025.