Spring 2026 Gentzler-Isenberg Multidisciplinary Diem Executive-in-Residence
The Gentzler-Isenberg Multidisciplinary Diem Executive-in-Residence program exposes UMass students to experts at the intersection of language and business, and the different career opportunities that interdisciplinary work can offer.
In our first program, Nataly Kelly, a tech executive with global cross-cultural experience, will engage with students at the Gentzler Translation Center and in various Isenberg marketing classes.
Nataly Kelly is a B2B tech executive who currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi, a UK-based consumer insights platform and certified B Corp. She helped scale HubSpot from $170M to $1.7B in annual recurring revenue across 120+ countries over nearly 8 years. Nataly is also an independent director at Lionbridge, one of the world's largest language and localization firms. The author of four books, Nataly is a regular contributor to publications such as Harvard Business Review and ADWEEK. A former Fulbright scholar in Spanish sociolinguistics, she started her career as a translator and interpreter for immigrants in the United States. Nataly grew up in rural Illinois, has lived, studied, and worked in Ecuador and Ireland, and has visited more than 50 countries. She lives in the Boston area with her Irish husband, two young daughters, and a rescue pup named Violet.
Hosts
- Regina Galasso, Director, Edwin C. Gentzler Translation Center and Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Studies Program, College of Humanities and Fine Arts
- Verónica Martín Ruiz, Assistant Professor, Isenberg School of Management
- Thomas Woodside, Lecturer, Isenberg School of Management
Itinerary
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
10:00 - 11:15 am
Class visit to Marketing 410: Consumer Behavior (School of Management G31)
11:30 - 12:45 pm
Class visit to Marketing 438: Multicultural Marketing in a Global World (School of Management 118)
2:30 - 3:45 pm
Class visit to Marketing 301: Fundamentals of Marketing (School of Management 137)
4 - 5:15 pm
Class visit to Spanish 465: Spanish Translation for Community Health Services (open to the public) (Herter 118)
Title: The Interpreter's Edge: How Cross-Cultural Skills Prepared Me for the C Suite
Description: Before she was a CMO, Nataly Kelly was a Spanish telephone interpreter. The skills she built in that role — deep listening, radical empathy, and the ability to hold two perspectives at once — turned out to be the most powerful leadership tools she ever developed. In this talk, Nataly shares how the craft of interpreting shaped her approach to leading global teams, building brands, and putting humans at the center of every business decision. If you think language skills are "soft," get ready to change your mind.
7:00 pm Marketing Career Speaker Series with Isenberg Marketing Club (open to the public) (N145 Isenberg)
Title: The Unconventional Path to CMO: What Great Marketing Is Really Made Of
Description: Nataly Kelly's path to CMO looks more like a zig-zag than a stepladder. She started as a Spanish interpreter, became a Fulbright scholar, co-founded a company, led product development, ran market research, and eventually built global marketing teams at some of the world's best-known SaaS companies — including HubSpot. In this talk, she shares what she learned along the way: that the best marketing isn't about campaigns or channels. It's about deeply understanding people. Nataly will walk through the career moves that shaped her thinking, the leadership principles she swears by, and the one skill that connects every great marketer she's ever met.