Senior Strategist, is founder and president of The Clementine Group, a Seattle-based consultancy helping mission-driven organizations communicate strategically to achieve their goals. She believes in the power of compelling narratives and thoughtful engagement to motivate people to act.
Karen creates and executes communications plans and thought leadership programs for philanthropies, nonprofits, companies, start-ups, and academic institutes, enabling her clients to persuasively tell their stories to the right audiences. Prior to establishing her firm, she helped launch Panorama, an action tank specializing in advocacy for global social impact issues. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Karen served as the director of global health communications and a member of the foundation leadership team. She collaborated with partners to advance complicated advocacy issues for nearly a decade, including running a multi-year communications campaign promoting the value of global investment in vaccines for the poorest countries. As both a seasoned writer and trusted counselor, she crafted voice strategies for foundation leadership.
Karen began her career as an award-winning international journalist based in Asia and Europe, reporting from two dozen countries for BusinessWeek and as bureau chief and European economics editor for Newsweek. She holds graduate degrees in international affairs and journalism from Columbia University.