Karen has spent the last twenty years building a career in the philanthropic, not-for-profit, and private sectors – leading innovative solutions at the crossroads of the respective fields. Her broad-based experience and deep expertise have given her a passion for creating social impact, driving change, and delivering results.
Prior to becoming Grace Farms Foundation’s first West-Coast based Program Officer to expand awareness about Grace Farms Foundation’s work and Design for Freedom, a new movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain, Karen was the Foundation’s Community Initiative Director, leading the Foundation’s focused work fostering inclusive communities with a focus on gender and racial equality and food equity. Karen spearheaded the Foundation’s ongoing strategic efforts to address the overwhelming need for food that accelerated during the pandemic. She coordinated with a dozen not-for-profit partners to deliver thousands of pounds of nutritious meals and pantry staples to tens of thousands of those in need throughout Fairfield County.
Karen conceived of and hosted Against the Grain, a series highlighting organizations that are achieving profound change through innovative strategies and collaborative models. Similarly, Karen has initialized and developed programming around gender equity, including Making Space for Women, which honored the important role that women play in our communities and the innovators that advance change. To advance the Foundation’s racial equity work, Karen created Then and Now, a moving and impactful virtual conversation with American civil rights leader Ruby Bridges that was seen by thousands in schools and corporations throughout Connecticut, and led efforts to address racism including addressing the rising number of hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, along with convening community members and leaders in efforts to create more inclusive communities through trainings and workshops.
Prior to joining Grace Farms Foundation, Karen founded Factor Philanthropy – where she partnered with businesses to build purpose and social impact into the core of their organizations – from supply chain choices, to mission-driven partnerships, to establishing culture – in order to transform both companies and the communities they partner with. Previously, she led strategic efforts at the GE Foundation in their Education and Skills Initiative, managing a philanthropic portfolio across school districts and not-for-profit organizations nationally and globally. She was also the former Director at The Fund for Public Schools – the largest not-for-profit in the U.S. dedicated to building public-private partnerships to improve a city school district; she also worked in the Private Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, where she focused specifically on advising clients on the management and investment of philanthropic assets.
Karen obtained her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a B.A. from Stanford University.
