Karen Palmer
TRAINER IN EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

Karen Palmer was the founding director of operations and interim school leader for Lefferts Gardens Charter School in Brooklyn from 2010-2013, supervising student recruitment, health, transportation, meal programs, security, community relations, and human resources. This led her to start her own operations consultancy, SchoolOpsNYC, to serve independent and network-affiliated schools in developing effective systems to support student learning and improve staff performance. She has provided direct assistance and counsel to elementary, middle, and high schools in all five boroughs of New York City, and also in New York State.

Prior to her work in education, Karen worked for over 20 years as a television news producer for CBS News, CNN, and MSNBC. She received four Emmy Awards at CBS and shared a Peabody Award and a Headliner Award with her colleagues at CNN for coverage of the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina.

Karen has served a variety of advocacy, social service, and educational organizations including the New York Women’s Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and the World Science Festival as a media trainer, presentation coach, and event producer. She also taught media ethics at Fordham University.

Karen graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Politics. She is a Certified Professional Coach (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching). Her parents were both teachers in the New York City public schools, and she credits them for her love of education and community service.

Karen is based in Brooklyn.