Kate is VP of Total Rewards at Trilon Group, a PE-backed family of ~20 engineering firms, where she leads compensation, benefits, retirement, payroll, and HR technology across a 6,000-employee, intentionally decentralized organization - which means most of the people she works with every day are people she rarely, if ever, sees in person. With more than 20 years in Total Rewards, Kate spent the majority of her career in compensation before shifting deeper into the benefits world in recent years, with prior stops spanning consulting (Aon), med-tech (Medtronic), and utilities (Xcel Energy). She has worked fully remotely for the past six years.  She never went back to the office after COVID, and her career hasn't slowed down for a second. Kate knows firsthand that trust doesn't require a shared zip code: her co-presenter for this session is proof.