Karen’s career spans the private, nonprofit, and public sectors. She retired in May 2023 as Director of Human Services for Salt Lake County, overseeing Aging & Adult Services, Behavioral Health, Criminal Justice Services, the Health Department, Youth Services, USU Extension, and Indigent Legal Services. From 2001 to 2014, she served as President and CEO of Voices for Utah Children, a child advocacy organization. She played a key role in expanding children's health care access through CHIP, securing funding for all-day kindergarten, advancing legislation on intergenerational poverty, and successfully opposing efforts to repeal in-state tuition for undocumented students in Utah. Her leadership has also extended to board service with Utah Community Action, the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Steering Committee, the Utah Nonprofits Association, Utahns for the American Dream, Utah Open Lands and Envision Utah.