Catalyst speaking engagements

Political, economic, social, and legal forces are buffeting organizational initiatives to advance women. As you and other organizational leaders consider if and how to adjust your strategies to create fair and inclusive workplaces, lean on Catalyst’s insights from our deep partnership with 400+ Fortune Global 500 companies committed to gender equity.

We’ll share actionable frameworks for assessing and optimizing your current programs so they emphasize fairness, inclusion, and talent. We’ll also explain what you risk by overcorrecting and how you can strategically stay active while navigating headwinds.

Now is not the time to back away from the work that needs to be done to advance women and position your organization for business success today and into the future.

An inclusive workplace is a successful workplace. Catalyst has spent decades researching inclusion at work and counseling Fortune Global 500 companies on what it takes to build inclusive teams positioned to anticipate and respond to any business opportunities and challenges.

Our data-backed inclusive leadership model pinpoints five hallmark experiences of inclusion and six leadership behaviors that drive those experiences as well as team problem-solving and employee innovation, engagement, and intent to stay.

We’ll share them with you and dive into additional actions you can take to ensure that employees across intersections of identities are experiencing inclusion — and driving innovation.

Inclusive workplaces are essential to build high-performing teams, fuel collaboration and innovation, spark trust and belonging, and attract and retain the best people. Yet even today, women continue to be left behind. How can we fix this? Catalyst has a surprising answer: By shifting the conversation to include men.

Past conversations have inadvertently encouraged women to overcome systemic barriers in a way that leaves men excluded, blamed, or hailed as the hero in saving women. It’s time for a new conversation.

With decades of research and practice, Catalyst helps men and women alike break free from behaviors that serve none of us well — and work together in partnership to reshape workplace culture so everyone thrives.

Last year the World Bank calculated that global GDP could increase by 20% if the gender gap in employment rates was closed. Women’s full participation in the workforce benefits economies, businesses, families, women, and men. But we’re not there yet.

Catalyst is here to share what we’ve learned through 60+ years of research about how to unleash women’s potential. From the front line to the C-suite, it’s not about giving women an extra push ahead, it’s about eliminating the factors that push women out.

When we remove the artificial barriers that slow and stop women’s advancement in the workplace, we can create a world where people and organizations maximize what’s possible.

Tech moves fast. Empathy moves people.

With the explosion of AI platforms and tools in the workplace, we are living through a paradigm shift that is both exciting and unsettling. How can we harness new technology while leaning into our humanity to create meaningful impact?

Join Catalyst to learn how connecting with one another through empathy can foster belonging, balance, and breakthrough results. We'll share data-backed insights on how empathy strengthens relationships and what you can do to become a more empathetic colleague and leader.

You'll leave with stories, practical actions, and inspiration to bridge divides and strengthen the connections that help people, teams, and organizations thrive.

As organizational leaders race to scale AI, many are struggling with mistrust, uneven adoption, and growing disconnects between leaders and their people.

To address these gaps, this session introduces Convergent Leadership, a new way of leading as AI reshapes work. It combines AI skills, inclusive behaviors, and a flexible mindset to drive employee engagement, productivity, revenue, and customer satisfaction.

Participants will explore this data-driven model for leading successfully in the AI era, based on new research with nearly 3,000 leaders and employees conducted through an exclusive partnership between Catalyst and Coqual.

They will learn why AI investments stall when trust, inclusion, and capability fall out of balance, and how Convergent Leaders create the conditions that allow their teams to flourish while embracing AI. Participants will be inspired to demonstrate Convergent Leadership, whether shaping team culture, influencing systems, or making day-to-day decisions about AI use.

Catalyst has more than 25 years of experience working with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) across a range of industries and regions. 

This engagement will dive deeply into organizational best practices and strategic considerations focused on advancing ERGs from a programmatic focus to sustained impact. Additionally, we'll discuss effective and creative ways to measure results, how to strategically leverage and engage executive sponsors and leaders, and communicating within and across ERGs.

Menopause is a workplace wellbeing issue that affects millions of employees — many in senior leadership roles — yet it remains highly stigmatized and overlooked. Catalyst’s latest research reveals how menopause symptoms impact work performance, career progression, and retention, and how stigma silences conversations that could lead to meaningful support. 

This session offers a data-driven look at what employees want, what organizations are offering, and how to close the gap. With insights across industries and regions, this presentation equips leaders with actionable strategies to foster inclusive, menopause-friendly workplaces that attract and retain top talent

Understanding intersectionality — how social identities overlap with one another and with systems of power in a way that affects each of us differently in the workplace and broader community — is a critical component of any inclusion initiative. Our various identities influence how we perceive the world and how the world perceives us. 

This session explores how applying an intersectional lens to business and organizational culture initiatives helps us identify patterns in lived experience. For example, who has power? Who gets the benefit of the doubt? Who doesn’t? Who is automatically included in groups? Who isn’t? With this richer perspective, participants will be able to build and refine initiatives that will enable everyone in the workforce to reach their full potential.

The world has shifted tremendously, and our workplaces are continually being reimagined. As we navigate current complexities, challenges, and disparities, how can we create more inclusive and empathic workplaces? When companies focus on inclusion, it creates a ripple effect of benefits across individuals, teams, the organization, and society. 

In this session, we’ll discuss Catalyst research that shows that employees who experience feelings of inclusion not only benefit and thrive but also drive business results, and we’ll share actions anyone at any level can take to create a more inclusive workplace.