Karen Spencer

Biography

Karen Spencer founded Whole Child International in 2004 when she discovered an absence of services to address the social-emotional well-being of children living in orphanages. For the past 20 years, she has led an international team to improve systems of care, advocate and influence policy, and conduct related research. She has provided the vision and strategic direction for the organization’s growth, with a passion for systems change, sustainability, scalability, research, and third-party evaluation. The organization’s scope has expanded to reach an even broader group of vulnerable children, while retaining the original focus on emotional well-being. She is co-author of articles published in the peer-reviewed Infant Mental Health Journal and Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, contributing important insights and realistic solutions to the public debate. In 2015, she was elected an Ashoka Fellow for identifying and filling a gap in care for orphans and vulnerable children.