Karen Lynch

Karen is a respected community and civic leader, with over 45 years of diverse experience. That’s why she has developed a reputation for making things happen and getting things done.

She put herself through the University of Alberta Faculty of Arts by driving trucks as a Teamster on the Syncrude site in Fort McMurray. After senior positions in communications at Alberta College, she brought her passion for community volunteerism to Volunteer Alberta. As Executive Director, the organization developed into a dynamic and multifaceted resource for engaging Albertans in the non-profit and voluntary sector.

Karen’s forte is creating and nurturing networks of people involved in building community leadership. She served on the boards of the Edmonton Public Library, Volunteer Canada and Alberta Ballet, and as the elected President of the Alberta Library Trustees Association and Canadian Parents for French, and chaired the Greater Edmonton Foundation, Alberta’s largest provider of homes for low income seniors. She now chairs the Health Arts Society of Alberta and vice chair of GRIT. Karen received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for her nonprofit sector leadership. Over 42 years in the political arena, Karen has been involved in over 30 municipal, provincial, federal, leadership and referendum campaigns.

In September 2019, Karen retired from ATB Financial after developing and implementing a successful post-secondary initiative strategy to support student success, recruit the brightest and best, and leverage ATB’s presence and investments on Alberta campuses.

Karen is an avid reader, e-bike cyclist and traveler (before COVID!). She is the proud mother of twins (and a new grandmother) – Rowan is a professor at Stanford, and Whitney is an entertainment lawyer at Netflix in London, UK.