Better Allies®

Are you looking to build a workplace culture with a certain buzz about it? Where employees are thriving and engagement survey scores are through the roof? Where people from different backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations and identities, ages, and abilities are hired and set up for success?

One secret to creating this kind of vibrant and supportive workplace is practicing active allyship. With the Better Allies® approach, it’s something anyone can do, not just people who have “diversity,” “inclusion,” or “belonging” in their job title.

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^®

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 more inclusive culture, along with straightforward steps to take. Karen Catlin will walk you through how to be a better ally, including:

• Attracting and hiring a diverse workforce
• 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 inclusive conferences and events

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

Buy the book

The Better Allies^® Way

Unlock the Power of Allyship and Create Lasting Change

Do you want to transform your workplace to be more inclusive and equitable, where 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 inclusive 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.

Order the book

Belonging in Healthcare

Inclusive workplace expert 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 who are from underrepresented groups. 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 more inclusive 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 more equitable from the inside out.

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The Better Allies^® Approach to Hiring

Building on the momentum of Better Allies, Karen Catlin has created this helpful hiring guide filled with best practices to recruit and hire people from underrepresented ethnicities and genders, with non-traditional educational backgrounds, with gaps on their resumes, or from older generations. With examples, stories, checklists, rubrics, and guidelines galore, this unique tool will help you transform your hiring process to attract and retain diverse applicants.

Read this guidebook for actionable steps you can take to fill your pipeline with candidates from underrepresented groups and ensure you have an inclusive interview process that paves the way to a more diverse workforce.

Buy the book

Our Weekly “5 Ally Actions” Newsletter

Let’s talk about the “p-word” — 50 Potential Privileges in the Workplace

Understanding privilege is key to becoming a better ally. As you review one of these lists of 50 ways you might have privilege in the workplace, note any items that surprise you. Consider how not having those privileges might impact the way someone experiences the workplace.

These are shareable and freely available via CC BY 4.0. We provide one-page versions and large-print versions.

Illustrations to Share

Check out these beautiful illustrations that bring the Better Allies messages to life. Share them to help spread the Better Allies approach.

Stock Photography and Illustrations Featuring People from Underrepresented Groups

We’ve curated a list of sites that specialize in stock photos and illustrations featuring people from underrepresented groups. Some are free, and some for a fee.

Inclusive Language Slackbot

If you use Slack, consider customizing it to automatically flag non-inclusive words and phrases and make alternate suggestions. Learn more about the Inclusive Language Slackbot.

About the Author

Karen Catlin is an acclaimed author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, she witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.

In 2014, Karen started the Twitter handle @betterallies to share simple, actionable steps that anyone could take to make their workplaces more inclusive. That handle became the inspiration for her three books, Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces (2019), The Better Allies™ Approach to Hiring (2020), and Belonging in Healthcare (2022). She also emails a roundup of 5 Ally Actions to her newsletter subscribers every Friday.

In addition to speaking about her books, Karen coaches women to be stronger leaders and men to be better allies for members of all underrepresented groups. Her client roster includes Airbnb, DoorDash, Google, eBay, and Intuit. Her writing on leadership has appeared in Inc., the Daily Beast, Fast Company, and the Muse, and she’s consulted on articles for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the New York Times.

Karen is a graduate and active alum of Brown University. She’s also a member of the board of directors of Digital NEST and on the advisory boards for the Women’s CLUB of Silicon Valley and WEST (Women Entering & Staying in Technology). 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.

Speaking

A self-professed public speaking geek, Karen is a highly sought-after, engaging presenter who has delivered talks at hundreds conferences and corporate events. She speaks on a variety of topics including Better Allies and women in leadership. 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 for who is on stage, giving keynotes and other presentations. To support her goal of bringing more diversity to speaker lineups at tech industry events, she coauthored Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking with Poornima Vijayashanker.

To find out more about Karen, including her talks and workshops on Better Allies, visit her website at karencatlin.com.

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

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.