Karen Catlin

Karen Catlin
Headshot of Karen Catlin, smiling, wearing a Better Allies® vest.
Born
Karen Smith

1963 (age 60–61)
Westerly, Rhode Island
Alma materBrown University
Occupation(s)Author, speaker, leadership coach
Known forFormer VP of Engineering at Adobe Systems, Author of Better Allies
Board member ofDigitalNEST

Karen Smith Catlin (born 1963) is an American tech executive and advocate for inclusive workplaces.[1][2][3] She most recently served as a vice president in the Office of the CTO at Adobe Systems.[4][5][6] She is a frequent speaker at technology events.[7]

From 1985 to 1990, Catlin worked as a software developer on the Intermedia system at Brown University. She then joined Macromedia in 1993 as an early employee, initially responsible for product localization. She went on to develop the program management discipline for the company and was promoted to the vice president level, leading shared engineering services across the entire product line. Catlin worked at Macromedia until 2006, when Adobe Systems acquired the company. She was an executive at Adobe Systems from 2006 to 2012, responsible for shared engineering services.[8]

Catlin has published five books: Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking (coauthored with Poornima Vijayashanker (2015);[9] Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces (2019);[10] The Better Allies® Approach to Hiring (2020);[10] Belonging in Healthcare: The Better Allies® Approach to Creating More Inclusive Workplaces (2022);[10] and The Better Allies® Way (2024).[10]

  1. ^ "Student hack-a-thon draws a diverse crowd".
  2. ^ "Movers and Shakers: Karen Catlin, Developing powerful women leaders in the tech industry". September 19, 2013.
  3. ^ "Attracting diverse talent getting harder, say higher ed IT leaders". October 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Devlin, Mala (June 1, 2012). Bit by Bit. Papillon Publishing. p. 59. ISBN 978-0578106403.
  5. ^ Rios, Edwin (June 22, 2015). "This chart shows how sexist Silicon Valley really is". Mother Jones. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  6. ^ Manjoo, Farhad (March 27, 2015). "Ellen Pao Disrupts How Silicon Valley Does Business". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  7. ^ Karen Catlin gracehopper.org [dead link‍]
  8. ^ Women in Tech adobestart.com [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking".
  10. ^ a b c d "Home". betterallies.com.