Out in Tech Boston | Building Careers and Cultures

Join us on April 19th at the TripAdvisor office to learn more about how each of our panelists navigated their identity in their companies, careers and have worked towards building safe, welcoming, inclusive environments for the LGBTQ community.

• 5:30-6:15: Registration/ Food/ Drink 


• 6:15-7:15: Panel 


• 7:15-8:00: Networking with Panelists

Our speakers are:

Katie Martell creates buzz and drives market demand as an on-demand marketing consultant, writer, and speaker based in Boston. She has been named a “marketing expert to follow”, a top 10 marketing writer on LinkedIn, top 3 most influential B2B marketer on Twitter, and has been invited to speak at a variety of industry conferences including TEDx, BMA, MarketingProfs, Women in Digital, and more. Katie has spent the last decade marketing in positions including CMO and co-founder of MarTech startup Cintell and Director of Buzz at NetProspex (a D&B company). Follow her on Twitter @KatieMartell.

Chris Wilson-Byrne is a strategy consultant with Fidelity Consulting, Fidelity Investments internal management consulting business.  He works with leaders across Fidelity to develop and deploy business unit strategy, product development, and strategic acquisitions.  Prior to Fidelity, Chris was a consultant at Bain & Company in London and Johannesburg where he helped companies fundamentally transform their cost base to realign with their business strategies.  He has a bachelor of science in chemistry from Boston College and an MBA in general management from Harvard Business School.  He lives with his husband and daughter in Wellesley MA, is a Bravo TV fanatic and his ultimate dream is to star in his own reality TV show #goals.

Brad Blake is a Senior Vice President and Director of Digital Strategy at Hill Holliday. With a career that has spanned the worlds of television, digital production, and social media for the Massachusetts Governor’s Office, Brad brings a unique perspective to his role at Hill Holliday. In addition to overseeing digital and social media programs, content, and experiences for brands, he helps them leverage social media and digital technologies across their businesses. When not trying to prove that someone over forty can still be hip to how things work on the world wide web, he can be found obsessing over the latest fitness or nutrition trend and bringing “snacks” to meetings that range from meatloaf to seaweed.

Our Moderator: 

Sarah Hodkinson is VP, Marketing for Smarter Travel, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor. In this role Sarah oversees a team that is responsible for driving consumer acquisition and engagement. Her charter includes search engine marketing, digital advertising, CRM, brand marketing, PR and creative functions. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Sarah spent 5 years as Senior Director, Marketing at PayPal, overseeing marketing operations and strategic partnerships. A passionate advocate for diversity in tech, Sarah has previously served on the board of StartOut, a non-profit that cultivates entrepreneurship within the LGBTQ community and has also spoken at the Lesbians Who Tech summit and Fenway Community Health. In 2015, Sarah was honored by VC firm, Accomplice, as one of Boston’s Top 20 Women in Tech. Originally from the UK, Sarah graduated from Lancaster University. She is also an active angel investor, advisor to start-ups and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Radius Bank.

Directions to event

TripAdvisor Rentals office is located on the 2nd floor of 226 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02114. When you arrive, walk through the main door up the stairs and down the hall way towards the elevator. Take the elevator to floor #2 and take a left. You’ll see a registration table directly ahead of you.