October Guest Speaker: Karen Parker

We are delighted to have Karen Parker as our guest speaker on October 19th, 2011!

Karen Parker thought she would spend her life teaching in the public schools after earning a bachelor's degree in education. However, her career took a different bath when she began working for Walmart.

Karen's first tenure with Walmart began in Merchandising, where she eventually became a buyer. After ten years with Walmart, Karen decided it was time to focus on her family and she left the business world to focus on her two children, Carrie and Scott. As Karen's children got older she became very active with their respective schools and in the community. Karen served as PTA member and President at two different schools. She also serves as the City-wide PTA president. Karen was the House Board president with Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and the Rogers Panhellenic Organization. She has served on many area scholarship selection committees and multiple education committees for the Rogers Public Schools. Karen was also an active volunteer for the Poplar House Clinic and taught community health education courses for 15 years.

After seeing her kids graduate high school and go on to college, Karen decided it was time again to focus on her career. It was at this point that Karen took a job with the Walmart Foundation, where she currently serves as a Senior Manager. Karen's work is dedicated to helping non profit and civic organizations through philanthropic support. These organizations play a vital role in making NWA a quality place to live.

Currently, Karen is serving on the Community Vitality Committee as a part of the Greater NWA Development Strategy through the Northwest Arkansas Council and she is a recent graduate of the Leadership Benton County program.

Karen and her husband Randy reside in Rogers.