Are you looking to build a better workplace? To create the kind of culture you want (and others need)?

One secret to improving workplaces is practicing active allyship. With the Better Allies® approach, it’s something anyone can do, not just people who are leaders or managers.

Illustration of the torso of a white person wearing a blue suit and red tie, holding a business card that reads You don’t need to be a leader to make a difference. It has the URL betterallies.com at the bottom of the card.

There are myriad everyday actions you can take to be a better ally. Karen Catlin has four books to help show you the way:

Better Allies®

Photo of the Better Allies book, which has a white background and a large yellow sticky note that reads everyday actions to create inclusive, engaging workplaces

The highly-acclaimed, practical guide for how to be an ally in the workplace, now in its 2nd edition.

In this book, you’ll learn to spot situations where you can create a better culture, along with straightforward steps to take. Karen Catlin will walk you through how to be a better ally, including:

  • Attracting and hiring the talent you need
  • Cultivating an environment where coworkers feel welcome, respected, and supported
  • Amplifying and advocating for others
  • Giving effective and equitable performance feedback
  • Using more inclusive language
  • Running better conferences and events

Level-up your ally skills using the Better Allies® approach and create a better culture where everyone can do their best work and thrive.

Buy the book

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The Better Allies® Way

Photo of the book The Better Allies Way. It has a tan background with red and black lettering. It has a yellow number 2 pencil, signaling that the reader may want to have a writing implement handy since it is a workbook.

Unlock the Power of Allyship and Create Lasting Change

Do you want to transform your workplace to ensure everyone can do their best work and thrive?

Step into the realm of allyship with this practical workbook that takes you on a guided journey through seven dynamic archetypes. Karen Catlin’s proven approach, derived from her bestselling book Better Allies®, breaks down the barriers to creating better workplaces by demonstrating that anyone can make a significant impact through everyday actions. The archetypes – Sponsor, Champion, Amplifier, Advocate, Scholar, Confidant, and Upstander – provide a roadmap to effective allyship, empowering you to be a catalyst for change.

  • For Individuals: Embrace this workbook as your travel companion on your allyship journey. Explore the archetypes, engage with exercises, and uncover new ways to level up your ally skills.
  • For Teams: Use the discussion prompts and activities to enhance your team’s collective allyship capabilities. Dive into one archetype per week, and watch as your group becomes a force for positive transformation.

Your ally journey starts now. Let’s create change, one archetype at a time.

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Belonging in Healthcare

Photo of the Belonging in Healthcare book, which has a light blue background and a stethoscope

Workplace influencer Karen Catlin brings her popular Better Allies® approach to healthcare workplaces.

Belonging in Healthcare provides a practical, research-based guide for how to be a better ally for coworkers. Filled with firsthand accounts from nurses, physicians, staff, administrators, and professors, combined with published studies, the book will help you spot situations where you can create a better workplace and everyday actions to take so everyone can thrive.

This is the book that allies in healthcare have been searching for: an industry-specific guide to the mindsets, strategies, and changes needed to make their workplaces better from the inside out.

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The Better Allies® Approach to Hiring

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Building on the momentum of Better Allies, Karen Catlin has created this helpful hiring guide filled with best practices to recruit and hire the talent you need. With examples, stories, checklists, rubrics, and guidelines galore, this unique tool will help you transform your hiring process to attract and retain employees.

Buy the book

About the Author

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(Access Karen’s media kit for downloadable headshots and more)

Karen Catlin is a highly acclaimed workplace influencer, speaker, and author. She has published four books: 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 emails a roundup of 5 Ally Actions to 40,000+ newsletter subscribers every Friday.

Previously, Karen spent 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Adobe. During that time, she witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears and focus on creating better workplaces where everyone could do their best work and thrive.

In 2014, Karen somewhat naively set off to change workplaces around the world. Her first step was starting the Twitter handle @BetterAllies to share simple, actionable steps that anyone could take to improve their workplace culture. That Twitter handle became the inspiration for her books.

A self-professed public speaking geek, Karen is a highly sought-after and engaging presenter who has delivered talks at hundreds of conferences and corporate events. Her TEDx talk, Women in Tech: The Missing Force, explores the decline in gender diversity in tech, why it’s a problem, and what can be done about it.

In addition to speaking herself, Karen is determined to change the ratio of those on stage giving keynotes and other presentations. To support her goal of bringing more diversity to speaker lineups at tech industry events, she coauthored the book Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking with Poornima Vijayashanker. Their LinkedIn Learning course based on this book is part of Toastmaster International’s certificate program.

Karen also coaches women to be stronger leaders and people to be better allies. Her client roster includes Airbnb, DoorDash, Google, eBay, and Intuit. Her writing on leadership has appeared in Inc., the Daily BeastFast Company, and the Muse, and she’s consulted on articles for the Wall Street JournalForbes, and the New York Times.

Karen holds a bachelor of science in Computer Science from Brown University and is a member of the board of directors of Digital NEST. In 2015, the California State Assembly honored Karen with the Wonder Women Tech Innovator Award for outstanding achievements in business and technology and for being a role model for women. And In 2020, her unique approach to allyship was featured in the BBC’s Ally Track tool.

For speaking engagements and all other inquiries, contact us at info@betterallies.com.

Book Clubs

Read a Better Allies book with your team

Figuring out how to be a better ally in your workplace doesn’t need to be a solo task. Instead, why not form a book club? We have discussion guides to get you started.

Photo of the Better Allies book, which has a white background and a yellow sticky note with the words "Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces". The cover has a red Second Edition badge.

Download the Better Allies discussion guide. (This guide applies to both the 1st and 2nd editions of Better Allies.)

Discount pricing for bulk orders is available from Porchlight Books.


This workbook is designed for individuals as well as teams who want to work through the exercises together. No extra discussion guide is needed; it’s all covered in the workbook itself.

Consider distributing this infographic to participants as a reminder of the archetypes covered in the workbook.

Discount pricing for bulk orders is available from Porchlight Books.


Photo of the Belonging in Healthcare book, which has a light blue background and a stethoscope

Download the Belonging in Healthcare discussion guide.

Discount pricing for bulk orders is available from Porchlight Books.