Keke Palmer and Whitney Wolfe Herd Closed Day One of Bumble Presents: Empowering Connections

Yesterday, Bumble kicked off their two-day SXSW® activation with the first set of speakers, keynotes, and performances. Broadway star and author Keke Palmer joined Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on stage for the "#MeToo, #TimesUp, Now What?" keynote to discuss the growing focus on gender equality and current social movements.

"The biggest lesson I've learned is that hurt people hurt people and kindness is just as contagious. So if you can focus your efforts on engineering kindness, it will prevail," said Wolfe Herd. "We are firm believers that we need to do our part to help make the internet a more accountable place. We need to eliminate hate speech. We need to do our part to really engineer kindness on our digital platforms."

The night ended on a musical note with additional keynote 'Making Music that Unites a Movement,' a songwriters panel with GRAMMY-nominated writer of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Wolves, Havana, and Let Me Love You, Ali Tamposi, GRAMMY-nominated producer and writer of Andra Day's "Rise Up," Jennifer Decilveo, and independent Spotify sensation and singer-songwriter FLETCHER, who debuted her powerful new single "I Believe You."

Friday's daytime panelists included Founder and CEO of Rachel Zoe Inc., Rachel Zoe, Chief Content Officer of them and Teen Vogue Phillip Picardi, Founder of Bleubird, Co-founder of Mother, and Creative Director/Co-Founder of Two Son James Kicinski-McCoy, activist and author Aija Mayrock, and sociologist and relationship expert Dr. Jess Carbino. Speakers discussed a number of different topics throughout the day, including: empowering yourself through style, inclusion in the workplace, healthy relationships, and how to survive a friendship break-up.

Pop singer-songwriter and artist Era Noble closed the evening on Friday with a performance of his newly released single "New Rules" (Dua Lipa Cover), and treated guests to a preview of two original, unreleased tracks, "Hunger" and "Stranger Than Fiction."

As part of the experience, badge holders and Bumble users were able to use a Bio Bar to optimize their Bumble profile and make the first move with 5-Minute First Dates. Bumble Bizz hosted a real-time 'Elevator Pitch,' with winners receiving a mentorship and $5,000 from Bumble to help start their business, and a Dell XPS 13, perfect for running a small business in style.

Today at Bumble Presents: Empowering Connections, attendees will hear from a number of speakers and panelists throughout the day. Keynotes will begin at 6pm and kick off with Actor and Activist Gina Rodriguez and Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herddiscussing "Making the Most of Having the World at Our Fingertips," followed by a panel on love, trust, and connection with psychotherapist and relationship consultant Esther Perel, artist, poet, and author of "Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life" Cleo Wade, and political commentator, activist, and author of "The Opposite of Hate" Sally Kohn. GRAMMY-nominated group HAIM will end the night with a special performance.

Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Bumble