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Author: Karen Cowe

Karen Cowe

Karen Cowe is an education executive with over 30 years of experience in sales, fundraising, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations. She is the founding CEO of Ten Strands, strengthening partnerships, strategies, and systems that promote environmental literacy to ensure all California TK–12 students thrive in sustainable, resilient schools and engage in meaningful environmental learning experiences, both in and beyond the classroom. Previously, Karen served as President and CEO of Key Curriculum Press, a pioneering K–12 STEM publisher known for its innovative, award-winning educational content. Earlier in her career, she served as Managing Director of Burlington Books in Athens, Greece, where she played a pivotal role in developing English-language instructional materials tailored for Greek students. Karen chairs the boards of Cognia and Open Up Resources, serves on the board of Golestan School, and advises Seventh Generation Advisors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in education from Saint John’s College, York, and an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, California.

Karen Cowe is an education executive with over 30 years of experience in sales, fundraising, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations. She is the founding CEO of Ten Strands, strengthening partnerships, strategies, and systems that promote environmental literacy to ensure all California TK–12 students thrive in sustainable, resilient schools and engage in meaningful environmental learning experiences, both in and beyond the classroom. Previously, Karen served as President and CEO of Key Curriculum Press, a pioneering K–12 STEM publisher known for its innovative, award-winning educational content. Earlier in her career, she served as Managing Director of Burlington Books in Athens, Greece, where she played a pivotal role in developing English-language instructional materials tailored for Greek students. Karen chairs the boards of Cognia and Open Up Resources, serves on the board of Golestan School, and advises Seventh Generation Advisors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in education from Saint John’s College, York, and an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, California.

Articles by Author: Karen Cowe

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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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Edible Education 101 – The Hottest Ticket in Town!

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON March 11, 2014

A few weeks ago I learned about a course that was open to the public at UC Berkeley, Edible Education 101: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement. The Edible School Yard Project manages the public tickets through Eventbrite....

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Exploring the California K-12 Science Framework at the Exploratorium

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON January 30, 2014

Last Saturday, I attended the first of five focus group meetings for the 2016 revision of the Science Framework for California Public Schools. The Framework is being revised because California recently adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The revision...

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Hey, what’s the big idea?

Posted By  Karen Cowe
  • ON January 13, 2014

I’m a big fan of graphic novels. I especially like when they take hard-to-grasp subjects or big ideas and successfully break them down so they are accessible to many more people than just experts. One of my favorites is Osamu...

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