Karen Proctor is founder and principal of Harbour Workshop LLC, a social innovation firm. Karen established the firm with one simple desire in mind—to help senior leaders and organizations design creative solutions for lasting social change. Scholastic, the University of Notre Dame, the Guggenheim Museum, Babson College, The School of Visual Arts, the National CARES Mentoring Movement, and Cool Culture are current or recent clients.

Karen’s accomplished career has been devoted to working across the public and private sectors to address issues ranging from hunger to school reform. She has been the chief social responsibility administrator and strategist for global corporations and major market radio stations. A nationally recognized leader in the social impact space, Karen has advised corporate CEOs, non-profit, and philanthropic chief executives, as well as federal and state senior level officials. Her work in service of more than 200 organizations has honed her expertise in strategic thinking and planning, program design, implementation, evaluation, and cross-sector collaboration. Karen is known for her thought-leadership and passion for producing transformational outcomes. She is currently a senior fellow with Babson College’s Lewis Institute for Social Innovation. She teaches a course on leadership for social innovation for The School of Visual Arts Master's in Design for Social Innovation program.

Just prior to launching Harbour Workshop, Karen was Scholastic’s Vice President of Community Affairs and Government Relations where she established and led the company’s public affairs practices. During her tenure Karen directed the company’s global corporate giving initiatives and spearheaded enterprising national pro-social and public policy initiatives that markedly contributed to business growth and improved educational opportunities and conditions for millions of children and families. As Director of Community Relations for the National Basketball Association Karen led the Leagues’ community relations initiatives and served as the chief community relations consultant to NBA and WNBA clubs.

Karen’s non-profit and philanthropic sector leadership includes roles as President and Trustee of the Maurice R. Robinson Fund and Chair of the Board of Directors for New York’s Literacy Assistance Center. Karen has served on numerous governance and advisory boards including the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College’s International Advisory Board. She currently serves on the board of PENCIL, New York City’s public education advocacy organization.

Karen has appeared on national television and radio programs including NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, and The Tavis Smiley Show (radio) and has been a featured speaker and panelist at major business and industry conferences. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.