Karen Horting, CAE, is Global Executive Director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, a position she has held since Dec. 31, 2013. With more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and fund development, Karen was most recently the SWE deputy executive director. In this capacity, she was responsible for all fund-development activities for the organization, including corporate membership and SWE’s Corporate Partnership Council, as well as more traditional philanthropy such as foundation and government grants, individual gifts, and bequests. She also oversaw a number of the Society’s programs and services, including professional development, K-12 outreach, the annual conference, and SWE’s international expansion.
Karen came to SWE in March 2004 from the New York Academy of Sciences, where she served as director of strategic planning, managing the academy’s development activities and long-range organizational planning. Prior to her role with NYAS, Karen worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, managing both marketing and fund development on a global level for Science’s Next Wave, a groundbreaking career-development website for graduate students and postdocs in science, math, and technology.
Karen’s experience also includes more than 10 years in the paint and coatings industry in a variety of technical service and marketing functions. In 2008, Karen earned her certified association executive credential from the CAE Commission of the American Society of Association Executives. Less than 5 percent of all association professionals have achieved this mark of excellence. Karen holds a B.S. in biology from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.
