Illuminating the path forward at Catalyst Convene NY 2026

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On 22-23 April 2026, over 800 business leaders from around the world gathered at the Javits Center in New York City and virtually for the inaugural Catalyst Convene New York. Reimagined from the Catalyst Awards Conference, Convene brought together executives, HR leaders, and changemakers at a moment when leadership itself is being redefined.

Across two days of 24 sessions featuring defining conversations, including from advocate and astronaut Amanda Nguyen, CNN anchor Abby Phillip, and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist Hilary Knight, leaders confronted a shared reality: How do we sustain inclusion—and the performance outcomes it drives—when the conditions supporting it are shifting?

From the persistence of the “broken rung” and caregiving pressures to widening AI capability gaps and declining trust, the program moved beyond familiar narratives to surface where systems are breaking down and what it will take to redesign them.

Set against this backdrop, the theme Illuminate challenged leaders to make the invisible visible: to expose hidden barriers, rethink assumptions, and embed inclusion into the systems that shape outcomes. That imperative came to life not only in the sessions, but in the organizations recognized throughout Convene—including Catalyst Award winner Hitachi, and Breakthrough Program Award winners Humana and Specialisterne Canada.

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Four takeaways from Catalyst Convene New York:

1. Trust is a measurable driver of retention, innovation, and performance.

Across industries, the same pattern is emerging: organizations can invest in strategy, talent, and AI, but if employees don’t trust how decisions are made, those efforts stall. Adoption slows, engagement drops, and attrition rises in ways that aren’t always immediately visible.

That erosion is particularly evident in areas like caregiving. New Catalyst research on caregiving pressures and women in the workforce reinforces that when systems don’t account for how people actually live and work, trust and retention decline.

Trust is not driven by messaging or intent, but by the consistency of systems—how opportunity is allocated, how flexibility is applied, and how transparent decisions feel in practice.

2. Gender partnership is a critical lever for rebuilding trust.

Trust fragments when employees experience the workplace differently. That breakdown often shows up across gender: who gets sponsorship, who is visible in high-stakes work, and who feels safe contributing.

Over time, these differences compound—shaping who advances, who stays, and who disengages.

Catalyst’s Men at Work reframes this challenge by shifting from individual action to shared responsibility. Rather than positioning inclusion as a program or initiative, it calls for gender partnership—a model where men and women actively share accountability for building fair, high-performing workplaces.

The organizations making progress are not simplifying this dynamic. They are making it more explicit by clarifying expectations, rebuilding partnership, and reconnecting inclusion to how decisions are actually made. 

3. The real test of leadership right now is playing out in AI adoption.

Across sessions, leaders described a common tension: organizations are advancing AI strategies, but employees are making their own judgments about how to engage. In some cases, adoption is cautious; in others, it’s happening outside formal structures.

What explains that variability isn’t just capability—it’s confidence. Who feels safe experimenting, who trusts how decisions are made, and whether leaders are seen as credible stewards of change.

Catalyst and Coqual’s Convergent Leader research captures this shift. It highlights that successful AI adoption demands a new leadership playbook that integrates AI fluency with inclusive leadership and human judgment.

In that sense, AI has become a forcing function. It exposes where systems are coherent and where they are not.

4. The path forward requires defensible, system-level inclusion strategy.

Business leaders are navigating overlapping forces: legal scrutiny, shifting public expectations, and internal pressure to demonstrate impact. What’s becoming clear is that good intentions alone are no longer enough. Decisions need to hold up to multiple stakeholders, internally and externally.

New research from Catalyst and the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, A New Path to Inclusion, reflects this shift. It shows how organizations are moving beyond broad commitments toward clear, defensible strategies grounded in evidence, alignment, and practical action.

That means grounding decisions in data, aligning across HR, legal, and leadership teams, and making choices that are explainable as well as impactful.

As the research underscores, leaders are not choosing between progress and protection—they are looking for a path that allows them to do both.

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