Karen White

Karen White, Bemidji, became President/CEO of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation in July 2019. She was initially hired as Vice President for Programs in 2016 and was named Chief Strategy Officer in 2018. Her previous roles include serving as Executive Director of the Minnesota State Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence at Bemidji State University from 2006 to 2016 and as Associate Director for Engineering Operations with the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering at North Dakota State University. Karen started her career at Imation Corporation’s Wahpeton, North Dakota, manufacturing site, where she held various engineering and management positions. White holds a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Karen became a Registered Patent Agent in 2009. She grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, and moved with her family to the northwest Minnesota region in 2006.