Activating the true potential of your workforce means understanding and championing the individual situations of every employee. More and more companies are looking to add neurodiversity inclusion to their DEI strategy to combat the talent shortage and create more equitable workplaces so women—and everyone—can thrive. 

Join this webinar to hear our panel of experts discuss: 

• How senior leaders can model empathetic leadership and authenticity to encourage, 

• The invaluable role of people managers in creating safe and supportive dialogues for neurodiverse employees, and 

• Why workplaces that actively support neurodiversity inclusion are more productive. 

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration. If you are NOT a Catalyst Supporter, please email us to proceed with payment and registration. For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Speakers

Hilary McVey, Partner, Deloitte Canada

Samantha Schilling, Human Resources Director for the Engineering Function and Enterprise Centers of Excellence, Eaton

Moderator

Simona Fontanella, Senior Associate, Catalyst

The post Webinar Recording: Neurodiversity at Work: Recognizing and Welcoming This Aspect of Identity for Women and Everyone appeared first on Catalyst.

Foster inclusion 

Vivian Yoanidis, Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Hydro One, highlighted a program on inclusion, respect, and psychological safety that more than 7,000 operations employees have experienced. “It’s all-day training and it really allows people to really have vulnerable conversations in brave spaces. …. And I’m very proud to say that we’re going to be working with our operations, our health and safety folks, and with HR to put a sustainable plan in place so that we can continue this work. So, it’s not just a one-and-done training session where we tick that box off, but we’re going to continue that journey and really integrate it into our day-to-day operations,” she explained. 

Invest in psychological safety  

Research demonstrates that DEI can lead to increased revenue, reduced costs, greater innovation, and increased employee engagement, productivity, and commitment. Debb Hurlock, Director, Inclusion, Culture & Leadership, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, discussed a powerful teambuilding event – a Women in the Field Summit – in the male-dominated power and gas industry.  

“And you know what I love about this experience is that we weren’t looking at business outcomes — it wasn’t framed in that way. We had the support of our business to do this, and what we focused on is let’s just create a space for women to connect to feel seen, to feel that they’re developing a sense of community, and let’s invest in them. That was it. So, we brought speakers. We held learning sessions. But the primary reason was for women to come together and feel connected and to really invest in their sense of safety: emotional, psychological, and physical safety.” 

Cultivate talent  

Simone Alleyne, Senior Director of Change & Strategic Alignment at McDonald’s Canada, began her career at McDonald’s on the front line in a restaurant 38 years ago. She said that their company phrase “from the crew room to the board room” summarizes not only her own experience but that of many others. “Our current president was a frontline worker. We have many people on our corporate staff who were frontline workers.” 

When pathways from the front line to other areas of the business are clear and encouraged through training and mentorship, workers are more likely to stay, according to the Catalyst research report 3 Ways Frontline Managers Can Improve Workplace Culture. “We have actually extended membership to our corporate WLN [Women’s Leadership Network] to our female restaurant managers. So, it now created this really tight bond between corporate women and restaurant women,” she said. In addition, “Our female owner-operators have also come together and created a women’s operator network. And this is their way of also creating a community mentoring new female operators as they’re coming into the system…Then the last thing I want to share is … 60% of our restaurants are actually run by women.”   

The audience broke into a round of applause at that statistic. They continued to robustly show appreciation for the three outstanding DEI professionals and their work sparking change and setting new standards for creating environments where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. 

Want to know about next year’s Catalyst Honours? Sign up now and we’ll email you when registration goes live.  

The post 3 strategies to improve frontline workplaces appeared first on Catalyst.

At our recent enERGize virtual event, nearly all of our speakers, regardless of the subject of their particular session, mentioned that securing the buy-in of senior leaders is crucial for employee resource groups (ERGs) to thrive. And since much of the corporate world’s leadership is still made up of White men, this group of potential allies, advocates, gender partners, champions, and sponsors, is crucial to connect with.

Read on to learn why White men and other dominant culture groups are falling through the cracks and how your ERG can send the right messages.

Affinity is important, but so are allies.

Catalyst works to create resources for the betterment of ERGs because they can be invaluable to their members. When done well, ERGs can provide community, a space for grassroots organizing, and a structure for sharing resources, knowledge, and advice. ERGs are places where members can be themselves, where they look out for one another, and where they work for the collective good of the group.

But they can always do bigger and better things with the help of others:

• With an executive sponsor, an ERG can secure funding that will help members create or sustain programming and events. Executives don’t always belong to affinity groups.
• With champions, the accomplishments of the group can be mentioned in the right places at the right times. Their voices can be amplified and their impact widened.
• Advocates can devote time to you and your members. They may help you set up programs, mentor one or more of your leaders, and use whatever influence they have to represent the interests of your ERG in their business area.
• Allies at all levels of the organization can actively recruit new members and help bring in new allies. They can also begin conversations in spaces where they otherwise might not take place.

Sponsors, champions, advocates, and allies can uplift your ERG. You can do without them, but you’ll do a whole lot more with them.

Empathize with the feeling of exclusion.

We shouldn’t be surprised at the current backlash against DEI. For so long, inclusion efforts have been focused on women, LGBTQ+ communities, and people from diverse racial and ethnic groups, leaving straight White men out entirely. While some understood that their presence as allies was needed and joined DEI spaces, others felt excluded, alienated, and even vilified.

It’s an unfortunate fallacy that if efforts are put into helping some groups of people, anyone else must therefore be at a disadvantage. If members of an ERG are special, what about everyone else? Are they now less than?

And since DEI teachings include terms like “privilege” and it is generally agreed that White men have most of it, they may feel specifically not welcome in spaces meant to create safety and community for groups that have suffered historical oppression and disadvantages. They may want to get involved but it might feel wrong. Just as many women have historically felt excluded from the “boys’ club” and “frat house” cultures of workplaces dominated by men, many White men feel unsure of themselves in ERGs whose members are exclusively women or exclusively Latine or exclusively Indigenous.

Everyone knows this feeling. Ever gone to meet your significant other’s whole family for a holiday dinner or reunion? Or been the plus one at a wedding?

On an individual basis, we can feel each other’s discomfort and our empathy kicks in. We take our partner’s hand and introduce them to everyone. We sit a single person at a table with people who we think they’ll get along with.

Even if a given coworker isn’t in the best possible mindset to be an ally yet, they certainly won’t get there if they continue to feel like they’re not allowed to be part of DEI efforts or that your ERG doesn’t want their help.

Let allies know they are welcome and needed.

Brian DeMartino wouldn’t have volunteered on his own to join a women’s ERG. He didn’t know that he could or should. But when he was invited, it changed his career for the better. At Catalyst’s enERGize session “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: ERGs as the Impetus for Gender Partnership,” DeMartino, now Global HR Operations Manager at Bechtel Corporation, told the story of how he became involved with a women’s ERG there early in his career. Though they are now known as business resource groups (BRGs) at Bechtel, at the time they were ERGs, and he was approached about becoming cochair of the newly forming Glendale, Arizona chapter of the “Women at Bechtel” ERG.

He now encourages others to explicitly invite people who don’t identify with their affinity group to join as allies. DeMartino said, “It wasn’t just a resource group focused for literally what the name implied, which is women at Bechtel, but really a group that was also meant to bring in our male allies as well, to help with some of this conversation around equity and inclusion and knowing that all of us play a role. I’m very aware sitting here today, looking at myself in the camera, that I’m not the face of diversity and inclusion from the standpoint of, I don’t meet the qualifiers of being a part of an underrepresented group. That said, everybody has a role in this conversation.”

Provide ample opportunities for allies to engage.

Speaking at enERGize, Justin Banninga, Planning Manager, Stations Work Program Management at Hydro One, gave his unique perspective as cochair of a men’s ERG called “Men as Allies.” Hydro One empowered the men in the organization to identify and act as allies to other groups. He confirms that a lot of men are still on the outside looking in at ERGs and other diversity and inclusion efforts. He gave an example: men working out in the field.

He said, “They don’t really get the messaging, right? Like, a lot of them don’t even have access to email all the time. And a lot of this stuff comes out through…email communications or big, corporate-wide telecast or online telecast.”

DeMartino offered a solution, saying, “Not everybody’s going to be able to attend every one of the lunch-and-learn programs that you have, but if you tailor them at times that are going to be accessible, again, not only from thinking about it from a geographic difference perspective but also just from being able to attend and access this material.”

Banninga added, “I think, you know, meet people where they are and try to connect them to the human stories. And I think it brings those folks, those men in the field especially, into those conversations in a way that they feel included as well. And I think you’ll find that they are doing a lot of these things anyway, because it’s the right thing to do.”

Once allies have come in, keep them steady on common ground.

Connecting people seems to be the simplest way to drive out fear of the unknown about each other. Once your ERGs have brought men into women’s groups, or White men into ERGs for different racial and ethnic groups, making them stay and engage comes down to what we all have in common. What do we all want? What can we all work toward together? What do we all struggle with? In what ways do we all need each other?

Often, that’s all any of us needs to thrive in unfamiliar territory. Banninga said, “What I encourage [men] to do is just listen to the stories of others, and listen to the stories of women that are attending these sessions with you and people from diverse backgrounds that are attending, and start to see that there are a lot of common threads outside of the more theoretical DEI language that connects you. […] We’re all human beings. We all want to be able to be ourselves in a safe place at work, a psychologically safe space.”

Moving the needle on your company’s culture takes the whole company, not just the underrepresented groups that usually make up ERG memberships. White men can be a great resource for allyship, advocacy, and gender partnership, so long as they are made to feel that they are welcome, too.

Download the full checklist

The post ERG leader’s guide to gender partnership appeared first on Catalyst.

Today, Resch is the inaugural President of the Women’s National Basketball Association Toronto franchise, which will begin playing in the 2026 season. Previously, she was a senior leader at the Toronto Raptors men’s basketball team for 11 seasons, programmed basketball for 104 locations of Life Time Fitness, and began her career in International Basketball Operations at the NBA League Office.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” said Vanessa Lewerentz, moderator of the afternoon keynote panel at Catalyst Honours on 7 October 2024 in Toronto. Chief Inclusion Officer for BMO Financial Group, Lewerentz interviewed Teresa Resch and Sarah Nurse, two trailblazing women working for equal opportunities and reshaping Canadian athletics in the session “Leveling the Playing Field: Canadian Women’s Sports and the Pursuit of Equity.”

For Resch, this was true. She discussed a college experience at a national tournament when she became aware of a career path in sports organizations. “It was the first time I ever saw a job in sports that wasn’t a coach or a player and it really opened my eyes to the opportunity to work in sports,” she said. Unlike [Sarah] Nurse, Resch knew she wasn’t going to be a professional athlete but before that experience she didn’t know the options.

Equity in women’s sports is improving and diversity is good for business, Resch explained. “People in sports are looking for any sort of competitive advantage. And what became very, very clear is when you have women and people with diverse mindsets impacting your decision-making, that elevated your performance.”

Creating safe spaces and increasing visibility

To achieve gender diversity and gender equality in sports, you need to create workplaces that support them, according to Sarah Nurse, a record-breaking ice hockey Olympic Gold and Silver medalist who plays for the Canadian Women’s National Team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League Toronto Franchise. A champion of change, she was integral in developing a single, viable professional women’s ice hockey league in North America.

Nurse spoke about “creating spaces in sports where women actually feel comfortable and safe. Because I know for myself for so long growing up, I didn’t feel welcome in a lot of sporting events and even talking about sports because I always got really talked down to. And I know what I’m talking about when I talk about hockey, but a lot of men don’t think so.”

She doesn’t want girls and female athletes today to experience that. “If they want a career in sports, if they want to be athletes, they should be respected and they should feel lifted up.” Nurse spoke about both creating safe spaces and accessibility, which she described as “being able to actually watch the product.” So even if women’s sports programs exist but aren’t broadcast or visible via marketing, public relations, and advertising, they are at a disadvantage.

“There’s a stat that basically says in women’s sports in totality, you have to invest three times as much to just be even with men’s since women’s sports are about 100 years behind,” Resch said. “Three times just to get even, not even progress.”

Investment, participation, impact

“I think for women’s sports professionally, specifically commercially in Canada, in order to succeed, we need two things: We need investment and participation. And that’s across the entire funnel,” Resch said. She then asked the audience, “Where are you spending your time and energy? Are you going to games? Are you buying tickets? Are you buying league passes? WNBA league passes are $30.”

“I’m a firm believer that no impact is small, and even just showing up, buying a league pass, buying a jersey, talking about it on social media, that makes an impact, and that’s huge, especially with startups, with things that are just getting off of the ground,” Nurse said.

Speaking about the sports industry, which was created around men’s sports, Nurse said, “If I had my way, I would rebuild the whole system.” She discussed how women’s sports could benefit from different media, storytelling, marketing, and ticket sales methods. “If we lean into that, I think women’s sports are going to be even more successful than we already are.”

“There’s still a long way to go, but it’s been great to see the trajectory change, even just during my tenure,” Resch said.

Looking out into the audience, Nurse uplifted attendees: “So, just know the work that you’re doing impacts the greater society and that ultimately uplifts us and makes these things possible.”

Want to know about next year’s Catalyst Honours? Sign up now and we’ll email you when registration goes live!

The post Taking strides toward equity in Canadian women’s sports appeared first on Catalyst.

Breaking with Tradition is diving into a topic that’s been long overlooked but is now coming to the forefront of workplace conversations: menopause. Welcome to season 1, episode 6.

According to Catalyst’s recent report, nearly three-quarters (72%) of employees have hidden their menopause symptoms at work. Additionally, 36% perceive a stigma against talking about menopause in the workplace. With celebrities like Naomi Watts and Michelle Obama also speaking out, menopause is no longer overlooked in the culture at large—so why should it be in the workplace?

Join Catalyst’s Victoria Kuketz as she speaks with Janet Ko, President and Co-Founder, The Menopause Foundation of Canada to bust some myths about menopause and flip the workplace taboo on its head. Learn why it’s an essential issue for companies to address and how the stigma impacts women’s earning potential and career trajectories.

Take the first step to join the movement. Learn how your organization can get involved and create a more inclusive work environment for everyone.

Host and guest

Victoria Kuketz, Director, Corporate Engagement, Canada, Catalyst

LinkedIn | Bio

Janet Ko is President and Co-Founder of The Menopause Foundation of Canada, a national non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to breaking the silence and the stigma of menopause. Together with co-founder Trish Barbato and a medical advisory board of the country’s top menopause specialists, she launched the Menopause Foundation of Canada to lead a national conversation on menopause and to advocate for concrete action to improve women’s health.

Janet has held numerous leadership roles including Senior Vice President, Communications in the global life sciences and senior care sectors. She is dedicated to helping women thrive through their menopausal years and is a passionate speaker and menopause advocate. Janet is honoured to be one of the top 25 Women of Influence Award recipients for 2023.

LinkedIn

In this episode

• 1:35 | Tell us about yourself! Janet tells us about her health journey and what led her to co-founding the Menopause Foundation of Canada.
• 3:52 | Workplace taboos: from mental health to menopause. Why does something that impacts millions of employees remain so stigmatized?
• 6:34 | Let’s bust some myths! Menopause looks different for everyone—and a large knowledge gap exists.
• 10:12 | Women spend half their lives in menopause. How can women be more proactive about their health at this time?
• 14:59 | Menopause stigma costs the economy $3.5 billion. Janet breaks down the staggering economic and career impact for women.
• 17:43 | How to get started. Take the first step to supporting women impacted by menopause in your workplace.
• 20:59 | BONUS: Creating new traditions. Janet flips our last question on its head.

Favorite moments

• 4:21 | Janet: [Menopause] has been a taboo subject not just in workplaces, but everywhere. I think one of the significant reasons driving that is the reality of ageism that disproportionately has a negative impact on women. Women, as we get older, there’s this view that we’re in a stage of decline. That doesn’t happen to men necessarily.
• 5:15 | Janet: As organizations focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, looking at how they can retain top talent, supporting women to break through the glass ceiling… You cannot consider those factors without looking at supporting women at this stage of life in the prime of their career.
• 8:07 | Janet: A myth that I would love to break is that menopause is about period changes, hot flashes, and the end of your reproductive life. While that is true, focusing on just those things really does women this tremendous disservice. And it keeps us all in the dark about what menopause truly is, which is this profound hormonal shift that happens in midlife that can impact every organ in your body, because we have estrogen receptors all over the body.
• 9:28 | Janet: I’m hoping that we can change the narrative in our conversation, from menopause being something that you don’t look forward to, to shifting it to something that’s very positive, an important milestone where we recognize and honor women for stepping into the peak of their lives, where they have the most wisdom, experience, and contributions to make.
• 11:37 | Janet: It’s about time that we empower ourselves with knowledge, which I think is happening thanks to generation X. Gen X women will be the last women to be in the dark about menopause. And we know that the Millennials and the generations after us, their expectations of an experience at work, their openness and willingness to share is quite different from previous generations. So, we are going to definitely see a change, as we know it’s happening right now, because menopause is a hot topic and it’s turned into a movement.
• 14:18 | Janet: It is women who are demanding better care, women who are demanding a change in the conversation and the narrative. And because of our very large numbers, 10 million over the age of 40 in Canada, quarter of the workforce, we are seeing employers really step up to support women in the prime of their lives.
• 16:15 | Janet: You have to recognize that menopause intersects with that critical career stage between the ages of 45 and 55, where women are assuming greater leadership roles. And if you do not understand the changes that are happening to you, and you’re struggling with symptoms… You can have years of struggling and not being at your best… Employers cannot afford to lose their expertise, their wisdom, their leadership, their knowledge.
• 18:16 | Janet: One of the first things that employers can do, which isn’t a heavy lift, is to break the conversation, change your culture and your communications, really focusing on normalizing this topic.
• 20:13 | Janet: Reasonable accommodations, looking at your policies, all of those things can make a big, big difference… Women are really just looking for some openness in the workplace, some respect for what they’re experiencing, greater flexibility, and choice as they go through this.
• 22:18 | Janet: I truly believe that menopause is a disruptor in a woman’s life. You know, it’s a great moment for you to take a breath, to prioritize yourself, to reflect on who you are and who you want to be. Women end up doing amazing things in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond… We just have to make sure that our health is there to allow us to achieve that.

Mentioned on the Pod

• Menopause Foundation of Canada: Menopause – What Everyone Should Know
• Menopause Foundation of Canada: Menopause Inclusive Workplace Playbook
• Menopause Foundation of Canada: Menopause Works Here campaign

Research you can use

• Stop the stigma: Addressing menopause in the workplace
• Menopause support helps attract and retain top talent
• Why Pay Attention to Women’s Health – What ERGs Can Do
• Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace (Supporter Only)

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The post Episode 106: From Taboo to Topical: Menopause in the Workplace appeared first on Catalyst.

Women in frontline, or “pink collar,” roles form the backbone of many industries, yet they continue to face significant and unique challenges and inequities in the workplace. These roles, particularly in retail, manufacturing, and hospitality, often have high turnover, low morale, and low levels of psychological safety.

When companies prioritize the needs of pink-collar workers, they not only enhance employee well-being but also boost overall organizational success. By reducing turnover by just 10%, companies can save $4-$7 billion in these industries.

By implementing inclusive practices and providing the necessary resources, businesses can foster a culture of equity and support that benefits all employees from the factory floor to the boardroom.

Join our panel of experts to discuss:

• Findings from the Catalyst suite of Frontline Employees Initiative research on the top challenges faced by women in pink collar roles
• Proven strategies to alleviate stress, reduce turnover, and boost morale for frontline employees
• How prioritizing inclusive policies for frontline employees benefits the entire organization at every level

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration. If you are NOT a Catalyst Supporter, please email us to proceed with payment and registration. For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Catalyst is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

The post Equity on the front lines for women: Empowering pink-collar workers in the new economy appeared first on Catalyst.

Among the 56% of Latine women who report feeling on guard at work, nearly half say they think about quitting “frequently” or “all the time.” This frightening data illuminates an enormous opportunity for organizations to practice active and engaged allyship to drive Latine women’s long-term success.

Allyship and inclusive leadership are critical for breaking down systemic barriers and fostering an environment where Latine women can thrive. By actively supporting and advocating for Latine women, businesses can enhance their talent pipelines, promote diversity, and create a culture of inclusion.

Join our panel of experts for Hispanic Heritage Month to discuss:

• Best practices for enhancing psychological safety in the workplace
• How inclusive leaders can model allyship for Latine women at all levels of an organization
• Specific programs and initiatives to empower and advance Latine women through every stage of their careers

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration. If you are NOT a Catalyst Supporter, please email us to proceed with payment and registration. For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Catalyst is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

The post Pathways to Progress: Leveraging Allyship for Latine Women’s Advancement appeared first on Catalyst.

As attacks on DEI continue to grow in both strength and frequency, it is as important as ever to recognize and celebrate the achievements of empathic leaders who model inclusion. This landscape of DEI backlash requires a renewed energy for universal inclusion and a careful hand guiding organizations into the future of inclusive work.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, hear directly from women leaders who truly embody the Catalyst Effect, leaving waves of impact through the entirety of their organizations and careers.

For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Catalyst is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

The post From Ripple to Wave: Intersectional Leadership and the Power of Inclusivity for Women appeared first on Catalyst.