Karen Curnow
Senior coach and consultant Karen Curnow works with executives, managers, teams, and coaches in corporate, non-profit, and government organizations to develop powerful, compassionate leaders.
Compass International Founder Karen Curnow is an internationally recognized authority in developing powerful, compassionate leaders. Her work with senior executives, managers, teams, and coaches in mid and large corporate, non-profit, academic, and federal organizations supports world changers in creating impact that matters. Having worked and lived in France, Turkey, Kenya, Austria, and the USA, Karen has served as executive and team coach, consultant, university instructor, and training director. In addition to her work in Georgetown’s Leadership Coaching program, Karen is a United Nations certified coach and leadership consultant, served for 13 years as senior leader and national program manager for Newfield Network, and is a mentor coach and assessor for the International Coach Federation. Committed to supporting innovators with global impact, Karen also coaches Fellows from: TED, Sundance Momentum, and Uncharted. Karen helped create the groundbreaking Calling in Power and Culture Summit, bringing together over 30 coach education programs to focus on dynamics of power, privilege, rank and culture in coaching. Karen is a doctoral student at Georgetown focusing on the impact of culture on leadership, earned her M.B.A. in International Management and Marketing from U.S. International University (Nairobi campus), her B.S. in Business Administration and French at Houghton College and at the Sorbonne/University of Paris, and her certification in Coaching and Organizational Learning from Newfield Network-USA and George Mason University. Her publications include chapters in On Becoming a Leadership Coach, IJCO article “Differences and Discourses: Coaching across Cultures," Notes from a Traveling Childhood book, chapters in Tools and Activities for a Diverse Work Force, “Gender at Work” Public Management article, and a variety of other publications.