Outside of work
In 2019, I took over the helm of a then-struggling nonprofit called the Alternatives to Violence Project Colorado, completely restructuring it to save the organization from collapse and recruiting a new executive director. As Board president for four years, I managed staff and oversaw all operations, including fundraising and surviving COVID. I also volunteered at Denver Women's Prison, where I facilitated conflict resolution workshops with people who are incarcerated. I like cats, doing things outside, traveling and I LOVE desert road trips.
Meet Kara
I’ve been obsessed with storytelling as long as I can remember. Book reports and any school presentations were a HUGE deal, and if it meant renting a bear costume or visiting Great Falls and pretending I was Cleopatra reporting from the Nile River (true stories), I did whatever it took to grab my audience's attention and sustain it. I was fortunate enough to attend a high school with a strong journalism program (we had a partnership with the Washington Post, which printed our paper) and after running the University of Virginia's independent student newspaper, I was hooked.
Same thing, but TV this time
After a brief jaunt across the Pond to grab a master's degree from the London School of Economics—what can I say, I'm a curious person and the Arab Spring blew my mind (I explored the so-called Algerian exception for my dissertation)—I returned to the D.C. hamster wheel, this time on the TV side of things. While it wasn't my first rodeo, covering Congress as a cable news reporter/producer was quite different, but a great learning experience. Navigating the detailed rules for where in the Capitol cameras are allowed and ensuring you get all the shots you need—fair to say it was a whole different ball game. I may not have loved the hours, especially those spent sitting or standing in basement hallways of the Capitol, but I truly cherished the camaraderie (even between networks!) of TV reporting.
Journalism career: print
I cut my teeth as a business reporter at the Washington Times, where I covered everything from major D.C.-area companies to personal finance before taking over as the paper's technology reporter. In that role, I was charged with tackling complex subject matter—net neutrality, anyone?—and distilling it into understandable language for a general-interest audience. I also got to test gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show and travel to India for a look at their burgeoning tech industry, so that was kind of cool. While I loved covering tech, moving to the Politics Desk was always the plan. Covering Congress is the best beat in all of Washington, and I was never bored. But soon after getting to the Hill, the White House beat opened and I reluctantly moved to the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. Competing against better-resourced reporters, some of whom had covered the West Wing for decades, presented quite the challenge. It was only after putting in the hours, showing up to the daily briefing every day with substantive questions that I established myself as a fair, serious member of the White House press corps. Talk about a front-row seat to history! I covered the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, was the pool reporter with former President Obama when he visited Ground Zero after Osama bin Laden's death, and I got to fly above the Andes on Air Force One amid his first official visit to Latin America, during which time the U.S. commenced a no-fly zone over Libya.
Leveraging a reporter’s expertise
I'll always consider myself a journalist. But in 2017 I left my hometown of the D.C. area for the Rockies, convinced I could take the skills I honed and enjoyed—strategic analysis and research; relationship building; and translating complex subject matter into understandable language, to name a few—and leverage them in other arenas. Since trading in my Steno Pad (just kidding; I'll never be without one of those!), I have applied my strategic communications expertise on behalf of nonprofits, government, film companies and international corporations.For example, as Public and Government Affairs Director for one of Colorado's largest counties, I was able to take a department that previously had only two media mentions and elevate our office to the national stage by securing op-eds in USA Today and CNN.com, as well as a dedicated CNN news package that aired during both primetime and the network's morning show. I also successfully pitched us for an ABC News Live segment that aired directly before the 2020 Vice Presidential debate. (I'll stop there, but I'm proud to note that the New York Times and even Showtime came calling.)In that role, I also handled several high-profile crises, such as election disinformation that threatened voter turnout as well as faith in the results. Additionally, I served as a senior advisor with respect to our position on bills that came before the state legislature. I frequently prepared and delivered testimony, sometimes proposing bill changes with the help of our attorney.More recently, as an agency Vice President, I advised global pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer and Bristol Myers Squibb on media strategies in support of clinical and regulatory milestones. In doing so, I conducted countless media trainings with top executives, sharing my insider's knowledge of reporter tricks to help them avoid common interview pitfalls.