Katie Burke, chief people officer, HubSpot
Katie Burke, chief people officer, HubSpot. Image: MITSloan/YouTube

Inspirefest snapshot: How to become an ideas person

15 Jun 2018

Katie Burke, chief people officer at HubSpot, believes tech can and should be more diverse and inclusive than it is.

Being an ‘ideas person’ is vital for anyone’s job, no matter where they work.

They don’t necessarily have to be your ideas all the time, but simply coming up with new ways to change how things are done or to make a difference is what makes the world a better place.

Katie Burke could definitely be classed as an ideas person and, in her role as chief people officer at HubSpot, her views really matter when it comes to recruitment.

Burke oversees HubSpot’s global employment brand, recruiting, human resources, and employee learning and development teams. She has been featured in HuffPost, Business Insider and other publications for her work in the culture and people development space.

Prior to HubSpot, she was the director of marketing and corporate partnerships at Athletes’ Performance and Core Performance. During her tenure, the organisation was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and was featured on CNNMoney, Yahoo, ESPN, The New York Times and more.

Burke says she likes to bounce her ideas off other people a lot. But how do you know when to move on? When you tell other people about your idea and they don’t light up when you’re talking about it, it might be one to discard.

She also believes that involving other people in the creative process can make her ideas instantly better.

Burke’s key ideas revolve around how she can make tech a more diverse and inclusive place. “I spend most of my days and nights thinking about how we can meaningfully shape the identity of tech to be more inclusive of folks of all genders, all national origins, all languages, all sexual orientations and all racial identities.”

Burke attended Bates College and holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

She is an adviser at Flybridge Capital Partners and was part of the inaugural Rev Boston class of Top Women in Boston Tech. In 2017, she was named the MassTLC Emerging Executive of the Year

For inspiration from extraordinary thinkers, catch Katie Burke and more at Inspirefest in Dublin on 21 and 22 June. Get your tickets now.

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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