Dr. Karen Kispert has spent most of her adult life simultaneously in academia and in nonprofit management and leadership. After completing an undergraduate degree in history and secondary education, she earned master’s degrees in political science and nonprofit management, and a doctorate in organizational leadership. During this schooling, Karen worked as an administrator for an inner-city parachurch nonprofit in Boston, and as executive director for a community-based nonprofit in suburban Philadelphia. Karen has had intensive experience in all aspects of nonprofit management. She led her organization to certification as meeting the “Standards for Excellence,” awarded by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations. She was also a leader of several regional and county-wide collaborations of nonprofits, including two federally-mandated Homeless Continua of Care. In addition, Karen led the process resulting in a merger, becoming the first executive director of the merged organization.
Since leaving her organization in 2011, Karen has been a self-employed consultant, specializing in working with small nonprofits during times of executive transition. For four years she was an associate at a consulting firm that addressed housing for special needs populations across Pennsylvania. Most recently, she was back in the executive director role, succeeding a founder who had been with the organization for 44 years.
Academically, Dr. Kispert holds adjunct faculty status in Eastern University’s doctoral program in Organizational Leadership and has been an adjunct faculty in the College of Business and Leadership at Eastern University since 2003, including a 3-year stint coordinating graduate programs in leadership. Her research interest has been the role of nonprofit organizations in democracy. She has presented her work at national and state conferences.
Karen has been an enthusiastic proponent of the Standards for Excellence for many years, leading two organizations to accreditation, as a state (PA) and national licensed consultant, application peer reviewer, and member/chair of Pennsylvania’s Standards committee.
Karen’s personal professional mission is to work for social justice through nonprofit excellence. That is her aim whether she is consulting, training, teaching, or researching.