IT ALL STARTED IN…
Connecticut, where Karen was born to a Bolivian artist and entrepreneur mother and a father, who had an international career with the U.S. Government. She and her family later moved to Bolivia, where she was raised through her adolescent years.
Karen has made the most of an international upbringing and multicultural background. After her education, she continued on to travel to over 70 countries and worked in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. This global lifestyle has broadened Karen's personal outlook on life and has fueled her desire to have a positive impact on people and the planet.
Karen is in the business of guiding conscious companies in their quest to turn visions into reality. She promotes the business paradigm that focuses on people, planet, purpose and prosperity. Karen has over 20 years’ experience working with global brands including managing projects for celebrity brands such as George Foreman, Bob Marley and Akon. She is an MBA graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management and is bilingual. From creative gypsy to business jet-setter or from village to boardroom; Karen is impacting communities and lives.
In 2014, Karen launched her own consulting company to support organizations with business development, sustainability strategies, marketing and communications, events and strategic partnerships. One of her first projects included a C-suite position with the Akon Lighting Africa initiative, which brought solar energy solutions to more than 1 million rural households in over 10 countries.
One of Karen’s many skills is her ability to foster strategic partnerships between like-minded organizations. Her efforts with Akon led to the first African-made solar street light assembly plant in Mali and the donation of solar street lights to a UAE royal family project in a refugee camp in Jordan. She was also project manager lead in the co-creation and execution of Light to Learn, a campaign centered around education and energy in Liberia. This effort was a collaboration between Akon Lighting Africa, Bridge International Academies and the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa and Nobel Peace Prize recipient for woman rights.
Prior to starting her own consulting company, Karen became a founding member of the House of Marley leadership team and launched the House of Marley brand in over 20 countries. She touched all aspects of the business including product design and development and later, as CMO, focused on developing and executing marketing plans and managing agency relationships and events to support Bob Marley’s vision of creating a better world through earth-friendly audio products. Karen was also a founding member of the 1Love.org charity. Karen continues to dedicate her time to Konscious Konsulting and supporting sustainability initiatives within smart cities. She is on the Advisory Board as Director of Social Impact and Sustainability of the Skopje Technology Park (STP Capital) in the Balkans. She is also supporting Akon by bringing solutions and strategic partners to Akon’s Smart City project in Senegal. Karen has a keen interest in conserving nature and is active in promoting technology for good and scalable technologies impacting clean energy and ocean plastics. She also supports a wild animal rescue center in Bolivia. A certified yoga and meditation teacher and leadership coach, Karen maintains a healthy lifestyle and engages others on the journey.
Learn more about Karen through her latest interview at Formidable Magazine.