Written by MarinSEL lead teacher Karen Madden, this story highlights the voices of high school junior CEOs in the program who create sustainable business ideas that focus on economy, equity, and the environment.
Author: Karen Madden
About Karen
Karen Madden is the lead teacher for the Marin School of Environmental Leadership (MarinSEL) program. In this role, she teaches four MarinSEL classes and coordinates various aspects of the program. She finds that the MarinSEL lead teacher role is the perfect balance of teaching and leading. Karen has over seventeen years of teaching experience, but she has spanned twenty-seven years in education, having put her career on hold to stay at home for ten years to raise her growing family. Karen earned her BS in human development from UC Davis. Before she earned her teaching credential from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Karen spent the summer in Washington, DC, as a White House intern. During the pandemic, Karen went back to school to earn her master’s degree in educational leadership as well as her administrative credential. Karen and her husband, Ryan, are the proud parents of Molly (MarinSEL 2020 and Cal Poly, SLO 2024), Allie (MarinSEL 2022 and Cal Poly, SLO 2026), and Sean (MarinSEL 2024). In her spare time, Karen enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking the trails of Marin, reading, cooking, and entertaining, and on most afternoons, you can find her walking her retired guide dog breeder, Karina.