Karen Mack

Karen Mack, LA Commons' Founder and Executive Director, has spent close to 20 years developing and implementing successful programs aimed at addressing important issues in the city. Following stints at California Council for the Humanities and United Way of Greater Los Angeles, she joined Community Partners in 1995 to support nonprofit entrepreneurs in turning their dreams of community service into reality. After serving in the role of Vice President, Program Development, Planning and Outreach for this organization, she left in 2001 to found LA Commons, based on her own dream of building sustainable, effective social networks in Los Angeles that cross boundaries of race, class and geography. Ms. Mack holds an MPA from Harvard University and an MBA from UCLA. She also is president of the board of Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI) and serves on the Mayor's Advisory Committee for the Los Angeles Cultural Master Plan and the City of Los Angeles Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.