Karen Chambers

Campaign Statement:

Karen draws on her twenty-eight years of professional experience- to create innovative sustainable ways to transform organizations. Her passion for ensuring all members are given the opportunity to exercise creative courage, fuels Karen’s determination to build trust. Relational trust is the glue to budling a trusting organization. Karen will invest in relationships with intention, especially across difference. Honor stories. Practice empathetic listening. Cultivate a culture that invites dialogue and collective sense-making. When working across differences on difficult challenges, she will invest in each member to develop trust, share openly, and collaborate authentically. It is vitally important that Karen facilitate a personal connection by having equity of voice for all members on matters that means to most to them. To accomplish these tasks, she will minimize the effects of her biases and maximize her potential for non-oppressive partnerships. Karen will consistently practice self-awareness to increase her capacity to work with humility, curiosity, and courage. Karen will embrace complexity and avoid the urge and pressure to quickly “fix― or develop “solutions― which usually leads to ineffective results and unintended consequences. She will bring together multiple perspectives on the challenge, especially those most harmed, to open ways of thinking. Creating an inclusive environment by actively seeking diverse identities, roles, and skill as she continues to build collective efficacy. Karen excels at making members feel comfortable and included by sharing openly, honestly, and vulnerably her [personal needs/perceived weaknesses/past mistakes, etc.]. In doing so, she helps foster psychological safety and a sense of belonging in the organization. Collaborative work is some of her best work because she’s energized by others’ ideas. Karen produces better outcomes when she works cross-functionally because seeing how the various members support and enable one another helps Karen improve her services to others. Karen’s ultimate purpose is to positively impact those she encounters by her words and actions. Everything she does is done in love! Karen wants her life to represent God’s love, kindness, and grace.

1Corinthians 16:13-14; James 3:13