Bachelor of Arts in Communication, 1993
Indigenous Australian Award
Karen has shaped the national journey towards a just, equitable and reconciled Australia. A proud Bundjalung woman, she has been involved in reconciliation for several decades, culminating in her appointment as CEO of Reconciliation Australia in 2017.
Born into a family that raised the bar in Aboriginal activism – her mother Kaye and two aunties, Olive and Ann, were trailblazers – Karen felt the pressure of expectation and responded by quietly learning, achieving and giving back.
Karen is known as a leader who will always preference action in social justice over public profile, and responsibility to community over individualism. She has been instrumental in the development of some of Australia’s watershed national events including the Apology to the Stolen Generations, Centenary of Federation commemorations, Corroboree 2000, and the 1997 Australian Reconciliation Convention.
Her work led to the development and implementation of the State of Reconciliation in Australia Report, and the Australian Reconciliation Barometer – documents upon which national reconciliation is based and measured.
She has more than 25 years’ experience in community engagement, public advocacy, communications and social marketing campaigns and has held senior public affairs and communications roles with federal government departments as well as with the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and Reconciliation Australia.
She is on the Boards of the Gondwana Children’s Choirs and the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, and previously held positions with the Mary Mackillop Foundation and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council.