Workplace culture influencer.
5 books.
400+ keynotes and talks.
25 years of tech industry experience.
10 years of thought leadership on making workplaces better.
After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.
Today, Karen is an acclaimed author and speaker on creating cultures that enable employees to do their best work. Her books include:
- Better Allies®: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces (2019),
- The Better Allies Approach to Hiring (2020),
- Belonging in Healthcare (2022), and
- The Better Allies Way: A Workbook for Being More Inclusive at Work (2024).
She also writes a weekly newsletter, 5 Ally Actions, to share ideas curated from the week’s news and her interactions with clients, audience members, and subscribers from around the world. If you’d like to learn along with Karen and 40,000+ others, please subscribe at betterallies.com.
In addition to speaking about allyship, Karen coaches women to be stronger leaders and men to be better allies for members of all underestimated, overlooked groups.
Karen Catlin’s clients include

