Episode 152. Karen Morrison – President and CEO, Gilda’s Club Louisville

Karen Morrison sees her job as president and CEO of Gilda’s Club as winning the job lottery.

Gilda’s Club is a cancer support community for families and patients, helping them live joyfully.

Karen joined the organization eight months before the clubhouse opened in 2007. The Louisville Chapter is its 22nd Club.

Before Gilda’s Club, Karen spent 17 years as Chief Operating Officer for the American Red Cross, directing programs for the Southern Arizona Chapter, and then as development director for the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter in Albuquerque. She also served as the major gifts officer for the Mid-South Division of the American Cancer Society in Louisville and as the chair of the Cancer Support Community Affiliate Council, an advisory group that works with more than 50 Cancer Support Communities in the U.S. and Canada.

A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Karen participates in the Kentucky Institute of European Studies and is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Louisville.

Morrison is an avid volunteer, serving as a Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana board member and with many other organizations.

She and her partner, Audrey, have three daughters – the oldest of whom is a cancer survivor.