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    • Outdoor Learning Initiatives
    • Seeds to Solutions
    • Sustainable and Climate-Ready Schools
    • Data Initiative
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    • Technical Assistance Services

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Author: Karen Cowe

Karen Cowe

Karen Cowe is an education-industry executive with over 30 years of experience in sales and fund development, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations. Prior to joining Ten Strands, she was president and chief executive officer of Key Curriculum Press, an innovative and award-winning K–12 STEM publisher. Before that, she was managing director of Burlington Books in Athens, Greece—the first publisher in Greece to offer locally-focused English language instructional materials for Greek students. In addition to her understanding of the complexities of the US education landscape, she has valuable insights into education in other nations, having built relationships in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Karen holds a bachelor in business and a minor in education from Saint John’s College, York and a master of business administration from Saint Mary’s College, California.

Karen Cowe is an education-industry executive with over 30 years of experience in sales and fund development, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations. Prior to joining Ten Strands, she was president and chief executive officer of Key Curriculum Press, an innovative and award-winning K–12 STEM publisher. Before that, she was managing director of Burlington Books in Athens, Greece—the first publisher in Greece to offer locally-focused English language instructional materials for Greek students. In addition to her understanding of the complexities of the US education landscape, she has valuable insights into education in other nations, having built relationships in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Karen holds a bachelor in business and a minor in education from Saint John’s College, York and a master of business administration from Saint Mary’s College, California.

Articles by Author: Karen Cowe

L-R Will Parish, Karen Cowe, Rebecca Vyduna, Juanita Chan-Roden, Ariel Lew Ai Le Whitson, and Candice Dickens Russell advocating for the CREEC Network in early 2017

Ten Years at Ten Strands: Transforming Environmental Student Learning in California

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON January 4, 2023
Ten Strands CEO Karen Cowe reflects on her first ten years at Ten Strands. She has been pivotal in leading the organization and the state to ensure that students across California are equipped with the knowledge necessary to create healthy...
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Statement of Purpose: Connected to Place

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON June 2, 2022

I’m in Scotland this month visiting my family and working remotely. On Monday, on my drive to my village, I was thinking about this assignment and reflecting on the themes some of my colleagues chose for their statements of purpose—to...

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Outdoor Learning Case Study: Park Day School

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON May 18, 2021

At the end of 2020, Karen Cowe, Ten Strands’ CEO, and Linda Livers, Ten Strands’ consultant, interviewed three staff members of the Park Day School in Oakland, California: Angela Taylor, head of school; Jennifer Cooper, facilities manager; and Josie Shapiro,...

2020 EOY 10S_Students

A Year in Review: Thank You for Being Part of This Journey!

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON December 3, 2020

In a letter to Ten Strands’ community, CEO Karen Cowe reflects on the challenges and accomplishments of 2020 and expresses appreciation for all partners and supporters who have been part of this journey towards statewide K–12 environmental literacy.

...
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2020 Distinguished Contribution Award Winners: Ten Strands and CAELI!

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON October 26, 2020

This interview between California Association of Science Educators (CASE) and Karen Cowe, Ten Strands CEO and California Environmental Literacy Initiative project director, originally appeared on the CASE website and was republished with permission. Tell us about Ten Strands and the...

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Summer Time and the Workin’ is Happening

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON June 23, 2015

Fish are jumpin’ and we’re gearing up for a busy summer at Ten Strands! We’ll be supporting and participating in three professional learning institutes in June, July, and August. The first event is the EEI Teacher Ambassador Training Institute (TA...

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Alphabet Soup

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON February 18, 2015

The first time I visited America was when I was just out of high school and I spent the summer in Mt. Kisco, New York. Until then, I’d lived in two villages—Chirnside in the Scottish Borders and Rosedale Abbey in...

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Field Notes: The Day I Was the Mouth of the River and a Rat-Tailed Maggot

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON October 14, 2014

I was in class three times last week learning about land and water. The first was Laura Honda’s 4th grade class at Manor Elementary School in Fairfax, California. Laura is a Teacher Ambassador for the Education and Environment Initiative Curriculum...

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Ten Strands By the Numbers

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON July 24, 2014

We’ve just completed our first full school year of partnering with the Office of Education and the Environment (OEE) at CalRecycle and the results are in! Our focus last year was to increase awareness of the Education and Environment Initiative...

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I Am A Bioneer

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON May 13, 2014

I have attended the Bioneers conference in San Rafael, CA every year since 2002 because it motivates me to act. I squeezed my first Bioneers conference into a weekend when I was in the middle of exams for my MBA...

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