Karen Korponai

Biography

Karen is driven by building visions into reality. As Chief of Staff at to.org, Karen supports the to.org foundation’s daily operations, leveraging the power of art and creativity to bring people together and using finance as a force for good and in healing the world. to.org is supported by To: Ventures, an investment fund dedicated to backing the most talented founders tackling the world's most pressing social and environmental challenges.

She has been focused on building a pilot model in Uganda, which engages Creative Activists to build sustainable communities through the Shadowman Van initiative by connecting and creating programs between polarized communities.

One of Karen’s many skills is her ability to foster strategic partnerships between like-minded organizations. Karen's efforts to support the companies within the To: Venture fund led to the first African-made solar street light assembly plant in Mali with Sunna Design. She was also a project lead in Light to Learn, a campaign led by to.org to support a Liberian public-private partnership in education and energy with the Government of Liberia, Akon Lighting Africa and Bridge International Academies.

Karen is a founding member of the House of Marley leadership team and launched the brand in over 30 countries, developing and executing marketing plans and managing agency relationships to support Bob Marley’s vision of creating a better world through earth-friendly products. Karen was also founding member of 1Love.org and runs a consulting company to support organizations with strategic planning, business development, events and marketing. One of her first projects included a C-suite position at Akon Lighting Africa, which brought solar energy solutions to 1 million rural households in 15 countries.