Karen Baumgaertner, M.A.

Program Development Coordinator

651-690-8848
kmbaumgaertner@stkate.edu

Karen joined the International Institute for Women Entrepreneurs in March of 2008. Karen has a Masters in International Development from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC, and a decade’s experience working for international organizations and government.

Although she greatly enjoyed the international travel her work afforded her, in 2006 Karen became a mother and found her travel schedule difficult to maintain with an infant. In the fall of that year, Karen started her own consulting business working with small international nonprofits and businesses. Like a lot of new others-turn-entrepreneurs she found that running her own business gave her the flexibility she needed, but also tested her skills. In the first 18 months of establishing Karen Baumgaertner Consulting, Karen found herself doing more research, budgeting, sales, negotiating, advertising, data entry, website and membership maintenance, event coordination and networking than she had in the previous ten years combined!

In addition to Karen’s professional entrepreneurial pursuits, Karen also comes to IIWE with an interest in Social Entrepreneurship. In 2005, while an employee at Children’s HeartLink, Karen co-founded the Midwest International Nongovernmental Organization Network (MINN). The group’s purpose is to give people working in international humanitarian organizations the opportunity to network, exchange tactics, discuss challenges and share best practices. MINN started with four members and today boasts nearly 300. Karen finds natural parallels between the professional development aims of her volunteer work with MINN and her work at IIWE.

While Karen completed her undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her family roots trace directly back to the College of St. Catherine. Karen’s Grandmother Mary Catherine (Mahoney) Baumgaertner is an alumna of the college, as are several of Karen’s aunts. If the last name, Baumgaertner, sounds familiar, it might be because Karen’s Great Uncle, Monsignor William Baumgaertner, served as Rector-President of the St. Paul Seminary from 1968-1980.