Karen serves as the company's primary executive representative for designated client engagements. This involves interfacing directly with clients while overseeing multiple projects, managing contract obligations, and coordinating scheduling for staff assignments. ECG's managing directors also execute overall project plans, supervise consulting teams, and provide oversight and approval for general document deliverables.

Karen joined ECG in 2007 as a senior consultant and was promoted to managing director within a year. In addition, she received the company's first annual employee award (2009) for her service excellence. In her recent engagement work, Karen has supported a large university client by:

• Coordinating and managing the review of student/customer service units, recommending improvements to the staff size and organizational structure, and supporting the implementation of a full-service call center;
• Managing a large-scale financial aid training initiative for over 400 financial aid staff.

Her additional accomplishments as part of the ECG management team include:

• Coordinating management support for clients transitioning financial aid directors;
• Responding to U.S. Department of Education audit findings and defining data requirements for the file reconstruction;
• Coordinating and managing the review of college and university business processes, recommending improvements based on federal student aid requirements as well as industry best practices;
• Managing compliance reviews for a diverse range of clientele, and recommending improvements to both organizational structures as well as office processes;
• Providing project management leadership for many key clients.

Karen gained strong accounting and financial aid expertise during 18 years working in positions at Wayne State University, Concordia University, the University of California at Irvine, and Kennesaw State University. In addition to day-to-day financial aid processing, her responsibilities included:

• Reporting and reconciling federal and state grant funds;
• Multi-year budgeting and planning of multi-million dollar merit and need based scholarship programs;
• Automating processes for certifying student loans and evaluating institutional scholarship applications;
• Developing, writing, and implementing office policies and procedures and technical specifications;
• Defining requirements and developing and implementing a financial aid management system.

Juris Doctorate, Whittier Law School

BBA with a concentration in accounting, University of Michigan