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Diversity drives better solutions
07 May 2025, 2:20 PMElin Simes, David Thompson, and Ella Banaticla share what diversity means to them in their roles at Catalyst.
Within our team at Catalyst, we believe different perspectives and lived experiences shape better ideas, more resilient teams, and software that works for more people. We’ve seen how inclusive ways of working lead to stronger outcomes — not just within our workplace, but in the technology we co-create with clients and communities.
But how does that play out day to day? We sat down with three of our team members to hear how they think about diversity in their roles — and what it looks like in practice. Each brings a different background and lived experience, and each offers a perspective that challenges, strengthens, and enriches how we build.
- Elin Simes is our Chief Financial and People Officer.
- David Thompson is a senior software developer who’s been part of Catalyst since 2014.
- Ella Banaticla is a frontend developer and web accessibility specialist.
Their job titles don’t tell the whole story. What makes these conversations valuable is how personal experience shapes their thinking — and how that shows up in our work, our culture, and our approach to building solutions.
David: “I’ve always felt welcome in tech — and I want to make that space for others.”
“I’m a certain kind of beardy guy in his forties,” David says. “The views of men who look like me are well represented in tech.”
Reflecting on his path into the tech industry, he started with “the privilege of growing up with computers, encouragement and support” to pursue his interests, education and career. At the time it felt “normal”, but these days he sees his role a bit differently.
That perspective isn’t abstract. It shapes how he codes, how he tests, and how he collaborates. “When we build in accessibility and cultural awareness from the start, we develop better software — and we avoid the scramble to retrofit it later.”
Diversity, for David, is about designing systems that don’t leave people out. “When we really listen to feedback — especially from people unlike ourselves — we expose the gaps. We spot risks. We make smarter choices. That’s not just good ethics: it’s good engineering.”
“I feel a responsibility to open our space,” he says. “Tech shouldn’t only work for people like me. It should work for everyone — and that means thinking beyond our own experiences.”
Elin: “Inclusion is not a milestone — it’s a practice.”
For Elin, inclusion isn’t something you tick off a list. It’s strategic, it’s cultural, and it’s deeply tied to how Catalyst operates as an organisation.
“Our people strategies aren’t just about HR,” she says. “They shape how resilient we are, how trusted we are, and how well we deliver on our responsibilities.”
Elin shares that Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te ao Māori are embedded into the people strategy to think deeply about wellbeing, intergenerational impact, and leadership as a service, not just productivity.
“These aren’t just cultural ideals — they’re practical frameworks that help us make fairer decisions,” she says. “They push us to ask: who benefits? Who’s missing? Who’s being heard?”
In a time when biased algorithms and poorly designed systems can cause real-world harm, Elin believes that diversity is essential to building safe, ethical, future-ready tech.
From inclusive hiring to culturally grounded onboarding to policies that support all kinds of families, Catalyst is working to embed inclusion across the board. But Elin is clear that it’s an ongoing effort.
“We’re proud of what we’ve built — but we’re not finished. Inclusion requires reflection, adjustment, and shared accountability. It’s something we show up for every day.”
Ella: “If it’s not accessible, it’s not good enough.”
Ella didn’t set out to specialise in web accessibility. “At uni, it wasn’t really part of the conversation,” she recalls. “It was all about what looked good and loaded fast.”
That mindset shifted once she saw how many people were left out of those early design decisions. Today, she works to bring accessibility to the front of every conversation.
“To me, a product isn’t truly great unless it works for everyone,” she says. “If someone can’t use what we’ve built, we haven’t done our job.”
Ella believes diversity and empathy are inseparable — and empathy is the foundation of good design. “It’s not about ticking boxes. It’s about listening, really listening, to different needs and experiences. That’s how you build technology that serves people — all people.”
Accessibility often means holding space for complexity. “What works for one person might be a barrier for another. So we talk it through. We listen to disagreement. We try to get it right.”
For Ella, inclusion isn’t just about user experience — it’s about creating a culture where people feel seen, heard, and respected. “That sense of belonging shows up in the work. It strengthens everything we do.”
Designing for everyone, building with purpose
Across their different roles, Elin, David, and Ella all come back to the same idea: diversity isn’t a distraction from technical excellence. It’s what makes it possible.
Diverse teams bring broader insight, better problem-solving, and fewer gaps in perspective. Inclusion reduces risk, strengthens trust, and helps ensure the systems we build are safe, responsive, and genuinely useful.
It’s also core to our open source roots — the belief that good ideas come from anywhere, and that technology should be accessible, adaptable, and built for everyone.
As David puts it, “We can talk about our values all day. But what matters is how we live them — in code, in culture, and in how we show up for each other.”
Some of the ways we’re putting this into practice:
We live in a world that is increasingly shaped by digital systems, and therefore appreciating the diversity of our people, their backgrounds and their ways of thinking is both an honour and a responsibility.
Our entire team knows inclusion takes ongoing effort — and as a business, we accept we’re always prepared to learn more. These are a few ways we try to walk the talk at Catalyst:
- Inclusive recruitment: We reduce bias through diverse hiring panels, inclusive language in job ads, and proactive outreach to under-represented communities.
- Warm welcomes: New staff are welcomed with whanaungatanga, waiata, and kaupapa-aligned values. We try to make sure every new team member feels a sense of belonging right from the start.
- Supporting life outside of work: Our policies around family formation and parental leave are designed to recognise that families come in all forms — and all deserve support.
- Keeping inclusion front and centre: We promote psychological safety, inclusive leadership, and team practices that celebrate difference — from neurodiversity to gender identity. We aim to make space for different ways of thinking and being, we want everyone to feel they can bring their whole self to work.
We don’t just build software. We build systems that shape lives and we’re committed to ensuring those systems include — and uplift — everyone.
If you’re looking for a values-based team to partner with on your next project, we’re always happy to chat.
We also welcome anyone who may want to join our team to check out our Diversity and Inclusion policy and explore the different career paths available at Catalyst.
Learn more about life at Catalyst
Meet the 2025 Catalyst Open Source Scholarship recipients
Catalyst offers two scholarships to students in tech-related fields every year. In 2025, the recipients also had a four-week internship at our Wellington offices.
