Workshops

Planning on offsite, onsite, or virtual meeting for your team? I lead workshops on workplace inclusion and women’s leadership. I love teaching by combining stories from my tech career with strategies, best practices, and small group breakout discussions.

Contact me to find out more about the following workshop offerings, which I can deliver in-person or via video conferencing:

The Better Allies™ Approach: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive Workplaces
Are you looking to increase your diversity and create a more inclusive workplace? To create a culture where women and people from other underrepresented groups can thrive? Where everyone, frankly, feels welcome and supported to do their best? In this workshop, I raise awareness of the challenges people from underrepresented groups face in the workplace and teach individuals how they can be more inclusive and make a difference.

This workshop is based on my book, Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces.

Length: 2.5 hours

The Better Allies™ Approach To Hiring and Retaining a Diverse Workforce
Do you have goals to diversify your workforce? Does your organization face challenges in hiring technical talent, given the record low unemployment across the U.S. and especially in tech? If so, you may need to cast a wider net during the hiring process and evaluate candidates differently, all without lowering the bar.

In this workshop, I cover key points from my books, Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces and The Better Allies™ Approach to Hiring. Learn steps you can take to be more inclusive during the hiring process AND how to retain the talent you’ve worked so hard to find.

TOPICS COVERED

  • Attracting job candidates from underrepresented groups
  • Being inclusive during the interview process
  • Setting up new hires for success
  • Amplifying and advocating in meetings
  • Giving effective and equitable feedback
  • Using inclusive language
  • Disrupting office housework
  • AMA on being a better ally for people from underrepresented groups

Attendees must bring a laptop, tablet or phone to use during the workshop to review their organization’s career site, job descriptions and more, as part of exercises to identify improvements to attract more candidates from underrepresented groups.

Length: all day

Women’s Leadership Power Camp
I love teaching leadership skills to women working in the tech industry, to inspire and empower them to grow their career and stay in tech. During this half-day workshop, I cover a set of leadership topics to help participants develop critical workplace skills.

After doing a warm-up exercise that always gets the group laughing, I lead an interactive presentation, weaving together stories from my background working in tech with strategies and best practices from leading research organizations. I also provide worksheets and prompts for small group breakout discussions.

Participants learn leadership skills they can apply immediately. They also strengthen their network of women at your company. Both have lasting impacts on their careers.

Length: 1-4 hours, with leadership topics customized to meet your needs

Endorsements

I’ve led workshops for Adobe, Bloomberg, eBay, Grace Hopper Celebration, EDUCAUSE, Intel, LinkedIn, Salesforce, SAP, Thomson Reuters, and others. Here’s what they say:

“We were thrilled with the Diversity & Inclusion Power Camp that Karen Catlin led for our team. She delivered an engaging, interactive workshop where we learned everyday actions to create a more inclusive culture where everyone can thrive. Because of her extensive background working in tech, Karen was able to distill the research in this field and make it relevant to our workplace. It was eye-opening, and we immediately saw results.”
Lise-Lotte Cajback, eBay

“We’re thrilled with the half-day Leadership Power Camp that Karen organized for our women’s group at Adobe. She’s a dynamic speaker, storyteller, and workshop facilitator, and the Power Camp was informative, fun, and inspiring. Her experience and techniques resonated with the entire audience, and participants started applying what they learned immediately. Our post-event survey results prove she had a major impact.
Hire her today!”
Donna Kolnes and Jackie Lincoln-Owyang, co-leaders of Adobe&Women

“Karen’s workshop not only sparked edgy dialogue on some very daunting issues, it also created a connection among us in a very short time. And it was super fun! Karen is a warm, engaging, intelligent facilitator. I highly recommend her workshop to any group/organization.”
Elena D., Member of the Programming Committee, The Women’s CLUB of Silicon Valley

“I attended Karen’s ‘How to Give Your First Lightning Talk’ workshop at the Grace Hopper Celebration. She helped me craft a story to showcase my background, which started with ‘Imagine you were at your first hackathon, …’ That story did wonders for me! It got me my first tech internship with a company I love, and it helped me connect with wonderful women during the conference. I felt natural and confident when people asked me, ‘Tell me a little bit about yourself.’ I am extremely thankful to Karen.”
S Mall, Computer Science Student, UCSD

“Karen’s half-day Women’s Power Camp was very impactful! As a young, new professional the advice Karen gave was amazing and priceless. Her presence and tips resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds. It was an amazing event where we could all be open with each other and learn from each other.”
Luci Buda, Associate Legal Counsel, Adobe

“For the last couple years, women in tech have been told to lean in. Although this is a great idea, it is still overwhelming and hard to know where to start. I like how Karen took this approach but broke it down into manageable steps. She gave us tools that are easy to execute and as someone who is starting out in the tech field I appreciate being able to take small steps that will lead to bigger results.”
Kimberly, Student at MotherCoders