Karen McGillivray Freeman

“Karen gave me my first opportunity to work in a nonprofit organization. Not only did Karen teach me financial accounting, but she taught me the most fundamental core values in nonprofit which I still carry forward in my career today. Those values are to understand the people you are serving and to always lead with compassion. Karen exhibited these traits in her work on a daily basis. She would always make time to talk to the Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. Karen managed and worked with her staff by actually getting to know them as individuals. She would make time to talk to them and address any concerns they had no matter how busy her schedule was. As I progressed in my career I chose to work in nonprofit organizations and I carried forward Karen’s core values by applying them to my work. I was able to craft grant proposals to obtain fundings for needed programs by understanding the demographics. I was able to lead and support my own staff to help me run program operations for the underserved by being compassionate to people just like Karen was. Karen started out as my direct supervisor, but has evolved into being my mentor. Karen has helped me to grow both personally and professionally. I am honored and fortunate to have worked with Karen and to have her as a mentor. ”

“I had the pleasure of working with Karen for 10 years, during which she served as my "right hand" second in command at Alzheimer's Family Services Center (AFSC). Karen is an expert in non-profit operations and demonstrated skill managing programs, administration,facilities, and finance during her tenure at this agency. She held to the highest standards of excellence in all areas and helped facilitate a shift in the agency from grassroots to professional operations. She demonstrated the capacity to mentor employees to their highest performance and to solve organizational problems (e.g., restructuring for maximal effectiveness with limited resources). She worked effectively with board members as well as employees, and was directly responsible for staffing the agency's Audit Committee. Under her leadership, the agency set all the necessary systems in place to comply with the then new Nonprofit Integrity Act. She helped ensured that the agency always excelled when reviewed, whether by a funder or regulator. Karen was loved and respected at all levels of the organization, and I would recommend her without reservation.”