Does DEI really matter to editors?
Does DEI really matter to editors? Global perspectives on challenges and solutions
Join PEG for a webinar that seeks to determine whether diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) really matter to editors and professional organisations. More specifically, the webinar draws on global best practice to highlight challenges and explore solutions relevant to our own engagement with issues of diversity, equity, equality, inclusion, belonging, and transformation.
Date: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Time: 18:00–20:00 (Central African Time: GMT +02:00)
Panellists: Autumn Arnett, Simthandile Skondo, Sofia Jarrin [4th panellist TBC]
Facilitator: Ursula Arends
Platform: Online (Zoom)
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Prerequisites/foundational knowledge: None.
CPD hours: The duration of each webinar in this series is three hours. PEG members will earn CPD hours according to the criteria published on the PEG website. Attendees of the live presentation will receive a certificate confirming their attendance and the duration of the webinar. Those who are unable to attend the webinar live may submit their receipt as proof of having received the recording.
Pre-webinar materials: N/A
Recording and PowerPoint slides: Everyone who registers for a webinar will receive a recording of the event and copies of the PowerPoint slides (if applicable) afterwards.
About the webinar
TPEG has assembled a panel of four colleagues and practitioners from different parts of the globe – Spain, the United States, the Netherlands and South Africa – to generate discussion and share insights on various aspects of DEI. Autumn A. Arnett, Executive Director of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), USA, will shed light on advancing equity in professional organisations. Simthandile Skondo, PEG colleague, founder and managing director of Mpilo Publishing, will discuss her commitment to supporting self-publishing South African authors of colour. SofÃa JarrÃn, Spanish/English academic editor and translator, will elaborate on the role of DEI in supporting multilingual authors who produce manuscripts in English.
The webinar will be facilitated by Ursula Arends, PEG member, Accredited Text Editor (ATE) and convenor of the PEG DEI Working Group.
About our panellists
Autumn Arnett is an executive leader, storyteller, and speaker whose work centres around equity, inclusion, and justice in leadership. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), a global membership organisation dedicated to advancing community, expertise, and opportunity in the freelancing profession. Autumn’s first book, Let’s Stop Calling It an Achievement Gap, was released by Information Age Publishing in January 2019. It explores the systemic issues that impact equity in education through ten city-based case studies, highlighting the state of education for Black children around the United States. She is the 2022 winner of the American Consortium for Equity in Education’s Special Contributions to Equity Award for her work to advance solutions in K-12 and higher education.
Simthandile Skondo, our PEG colleague, is a very dynamic and versatile individual. She’s currently in training to be a Professional Accountant, while also running a self-publishing company and assisting aspiring authors. Her love for books and their impact propelled her to start Mpilo Publishing (Pty) Ltd. For the past eight years of managing the company, engaging with local aspiring authors and freelancers, she has acquired a reasonable amount of knowledge and experience to understand how to work well with all parties to ensure a win/win paradigm of interaction between everyone involved.
Sofia Jarrin is an academic, nonprofit, and fiction copy editor, proofreader, and translator with over a decade of experience. She has worked with academic publishers and nonprofit institutions in the United States and Latin America. Her commitment as an editor is to apply a conscious reading to all her editing work by respecting the writer’s background, country of origin, and lived experience. She is 100% bilingual in English and Spanish and can read French and Portuguese. SofÃa is originally from Ecuador, a nonbinary, bisexual mother of an amazing daughter, and an advocate for Indigenous, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental justice.
Cost
| Affiliation | Early-bird registration fee1 | Full registration2 |
|---|---|---|
| PEG members | R295 | R380 |
| Members of affiliated organisations3 | R400 | R500 |
| Non-affiliated members | R500 | R600 |
1Early-bird registration fee: Before or on Monday, 18 May 2026.
2Between Tuesday, 19 May 2026 and Sunday, 24 May 2026
3Professional Journalists’ Association of South Africa (ProJourn), Southern African Freelancers’ Association (SAFREA), South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA), the South African Translators’ Institute (SATI), Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA), Society of English-language professionals in the Netherlands (SENSE), Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd), Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and Nordic Editors and Translators (NEaT).
Take advantage of the early-bird special: save money and secure your spot at this webinar by registering early!
Please register by completing and emailing the registration form to the webinar administrator.
Deadline for registrations: Sunday, 24 May 2026.