As a non-profit organization, Catalyst, Inc. is geared towards promoting inclusive workplaces for women. Founded in 1962 by writer, advocate, and feminist Felice Schwartz, the organization came as a natural result of its founder's history of social activism. There was acceleration in the movement for social equality during the 1960s which began after the Second World War ended, but workplace equality for women at the time was still but a dream. Through Schwartz's efforts and funding from the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, Catalyst, Inc. was born.

Each year, Catalyst awards innovative organizations employing approaches with measurable results aimed at addressing the development, recruitment, and advancement of women in the workplace. Known as the Catalyst Award, the award is the culmination of a year-long examination of the initiatives of various institutions, scrutinized using a range of criteria that tackles various aspects of workplace concerns for women. The Catalyst Award was first given in 1987 and since then has been bestowed upon 74 organizations. 

Some of the recent Catalyst awardees include: Charles Schwab & Co., the IBM Corporation, The Northern Trust Company, American Express Company, General Mills, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bayer Corporation, Fannie Mae, Marriott International, Inc., Accenture, Ernst & Young LLP, WellPoint Health Networks Inc., General Electric Company, Harley-Davidson, Inc., Shell Oil Company US, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, BP p.l.c., The Chubb Corporation, Safeway, Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Scotiabank, ING US Financial Services, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Baxter International Inc., CH2M HILL, Gibbons P.C., KPMG LLP, Campbell Soup Company, Delotte LLP, RBC, Telstra Corporation Limited, Kaiser Permanente, McDonald's Corporation, Time Warner Inc., the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Sodexo.

In 2011, the organization expands into Asia with a new office in Mumbai, India. In 2012, Catalyst, Inc. celebrated its 50th year of growing opportunities for women with a two-day awards conference.