Control the Light, and Other Actions for Allies
Better allyship starts here. Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a workplace where everyone can thrive.
1. Control the light
What if we viewed workplace culture as a garden?
That’s the metaphor Abi Adamson used in her closing keynote at the International Allyship Day conference hosted by Next Pivot Point earlier this week.
Adamson gave us a peek at her upcoming book Culture Blooming: Nurturing Workplaces Where People Grow. In her garden metaphor, each person needs the right conditions to thrive.
And while we may not be able to control the “soil” of our organization (the policies, practices, and cultural toxins), we can control the “light.”
We can pay attention to who gets seen, heard, credited, and given career-making opportunities. And make sure people aren’t left to wither in the shadows.
Here are a few ways to put that into practice:
- Speak their name when they aren’t in the room. Advocate for coworkers in the decision-making rooms where they aren’t present.
- Give them credit. Publicly acknowledge their ideas, contributions, and expertise.
- Bring them along. Invite a colleague to join a high-profile meeting to help them gain visibility and exposure to senior leaders.
- Distribute stretch assignments fairly. Make sure access to high-profile projects and task forces isn’t limited to the same “go-to” people.
Who on your team could use a little more light? And what can you do to shine it their way?
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2. Don’t let AI be more biased than humans
Jeepers. New research suggests that AI can develop its own biases from experience and stereotype job applicants even more readily than humans do.
Researchers at Princeton University and the University of Chicago put large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, through a simulated hiring game with four fictional ethnic groups. The LLMs quickly began sorting candidates from different groups into different jobs based on early observations.
For example, when a candidate from one ethnic group failed as a doctor, the models began avoiding other candidates from that group for doctor roles. Instead, they started hiring them to lower-status jobs, such as janitorial work.
The models learned a stereotype from limited evidence and then generalized it to an entire group.
AI can be a powerful tool, but we can’t let it introduce more bias into our hiring decisions than we already have (which is too much).
If your organization is using AI to evaluate candidates, share this research. Ask whether AI is actually helping with the task. And start a conversation about what checks and balances are needed to help prevent further bias in the hiring process.
3. Meet one-on-one with everyone on the team
During the 25 years I worked in the tech industry, my managers always held one-on-one meetings with me. Sometimes they were weekly, sometimes less frequent. Regardless, I relied on them to keep my manager informed, ask for advice, and get help removing roadblocks.
I also got plenty of positive reinforcement about the things I was doing well, along with constructive suggestions for how to get better. I’m not sure how I could have effectively done my job or grown in my career without the feedback I received in these meetings.
You know what else? I would have been angry if my manager had scheduled one-on-one meetings with others on my team, but not with me.
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While that’s not something I have experienced, many have. In Being Black In Corporate America, Coqual uncovered 14 specific microaggressions that Black employees experience at significantly higher rates than all other racial groups surveyed. One is, “My manager has met one-on-one with others on my team, but not with me.”
Don’t be that manager.
4. Respectfully showcase diversity in imagery
What story are your images telling?
We send subtle messages whenever and wherever we use images. In presentations and pitch decks. In marketing collateral. In blog posts, websites, and recruiting material. If we consistently show one type of person as the leader, expert, or successful employee, we may inadvertently reinforce stereotypes about who belongs in those roles.
So, the next time you choose a stock photo or use AI to generate an image, take a closer look. Ask yourself, who is represented and who is missing?
And, are you portraying people authentically and respectfully?
I recently updated my list of favorite stock photography resources to include All In Frame, a free stock photography collection led by disabled creatives to help marketers, advertisers, and creative teams tell more authentic stories about disability.
I especially appreciate this guideline from their Terms of Use:
“You may not use the image in any context that demeans, stereotypes, exploits, misrepresents, or otherwise harms the dignity, rights, or lived experience of disabled people or any person depicted in the image.”
While I wish the guideline wasn’t needed, I appreciate the reminder that representation matters and it should be done with respect.
5. Community spotlight: Give feedback by sharing what you’ve learned
I heard from a subscriber whose coworker announced a new productivity tool called “Master Aggregate.”
She reached out to him and asked, “Could we call it something other than ‘master’?”
Then she used one of my favorite techniques for better allies: give feedback by sharing what you’ve learned.
She explained that she’d learned the term “master” isn’t the most inclusive choice from a historical perspective, and often isn’t the clearest way to describe what we’re trying to say.
As an alternative, she suggested the phrase “Synced Aggregate.”
Her coworker thanked her and immediately changed the tool’s name.
Made. My. Day. 🙏
If you’ve taken a step towards being a better ally, please reply to this email and tell me about it. And mention if I can quote you by name or credit you anonymously in an upcoming newsletter.
That’s all for this week. I’m glad you’re on this journey with me,
Karen Catlin (she/her), Author of the Better Allies® book series
100% written by me. I use AI for researching a personal archive of my books and past newsletters, and for light editing.
Copyright © 2026 Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.
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