Zulily CTO Shares Leadership Lessons at Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit

For technology leaders, the first step to creating a learning culture is to listen to your team.

Courtney Kissler, Zulily Chief Technology Officer, shared this and other insights in a workshop she led at the Lesbians Who Tech (not IRL) Pride Summit, held virtually in late June. Zulily and QVC were sponsors of the summit, which brought together 40,000 LGBTQ+ tech experts, leaders, and allies from over 100 countries to network and converse about trends in the technology industry.

“I am extremely passionate about leadership evolution and how to create an environment for continuous learning,” Courtney said. “I think this starts with listening, talking to my teams, talking to others in the organization, and trying to really understand just how things are operating and where the team needs help.”

Courtney’s wide-ranging session focused on continuous learning and also touched on value stream mapping, collaborative planning, and other tech topics. In addition, Courtney shared background on her own career journey, which brought her to Zulily in January 2021.

“I want to be in an organization that focuses on people, and Zulily focuses on people,” she said. “I also am really passionate about helping with inclusive leadership and being an ally. I love that our organization is committed in words and in actions.”

More than 35 team members from Zulily, QVC, and other Qurate Retail Group brands attended Lesbians Who Tech (not IRL) Pride Summit. Zulily also sponsored this summit in 2020.

Courtney and other team members met virtually with attendees to get to know them and share what working at Zulily, QVC, HSN, and the Cornerstone Brands is like.

“We support Lesbians Who Tech due to the global reach of their organization and the quality of people their events attract,” said Courtney. “For the 2021 summit, we encouraged our team members to review the agenda and sign up for interesting topics. This summit is an opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of topics critical to our company, our communities, and our customers.”

Lesbians Who Tech & Allies is a worldwide LGBTQ+ technology community, bringing together LGBTQ+ women, people of color, non-binary people, trans people, and allies to raise LGBTQ+ visibility and change the face of technology.