M. Karen Walker, Ph.D. is a former foreign affairs officer and academic with 30 years’ experience in public diplomacy, policy planning, program and grants management and strategic communication. She began her career as a public affairs officer with the U.S. Information Agency in 1990, promoting democracy and environmental diplomacy.
She joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 1992, where she helped plan and manage national investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. She returned to Foggy Bottom in 1997 as a foreign affairs officer, advancing environmental diplomacy; managing commercial diplomacy programs in developing countries; and assisting in the launch of the Middle East Partnership Initiative, where she managed educational opportunity and entrepreneurial training programs.
Karen joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2003, where she led communications for the Office of Research and Development and advanced research in the social, behavioral and economic sciences to understand terrorist intent and prevent terrorist attacks.
Karen earned her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Maryland College Park in 2014. While dissertating on soft power diplomacy, she completed a State Department Franklin Fellowship as grants manager for democracy and governance programs in Iraq. She joined Booz Allen Hamilton in 2011, serving as a strategic communications specialist, news writer, and speechwriter for clients in the defense and intelligence communities.
Immediately prior to joining the Presidential Precinct, Karen was a communications manager with the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, covering research advancements in sustainability, fairness-aware AI, and engineering for health, and promoting future leaders in STEM.
Karen co-chairs the Public Diplomacy Council of America’s Academic Study Committee and serves as a member of the PDCA board. She is also a member of the National Communication Association and the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations.
