KEYNOTE, EDUCATOR, AUTHOR AND THE OCCASIONAL STAND-UP...  
PEOPLE LIKE TO HEAR ME RUN MY MOUTH.

a click-through bio

 

KAREN KENNEDY is a seasoned multi-hyphenate American keynote speaker, educator, writer, stand-up comic, best selling author, and entrepreneur.

 

Before Karen Kennedy’s entrepreneurial and entertainment endeavors began, her work in corporate America as an executive officer includes tenure at Smith Barney Wealth Management on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. Karen has a talent for tailoring her ideas to an audience of executives and other business professionals. Her talks on leadership, team building, and have made her the go to presenter for many companies.

 

In the late 1990s, while working in non-profit, Karen was part of a small group that pioneered the Teen Advocacy Program at A Safe Place—a local shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Her contributions included writing, developing and presenting curriculum. In 2011, Karen founded Lady Blossoms—the nation's premier modern-day finishing school that integrates activities rooted in S.T.E.A.M (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics). To date, she has designed and facilitated curricula for cities, juvenile halls, unified school districts, universities, and other organizations to use when working with students. Karen has worked with hundreds of girls across the country, and educators have hailed her approach to working with young women as "one of the best ever developed."  

 

Karen Kennedy was unanimously voted to Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Black Coalition on AIDS (BCA) in San Francisco, CA. During her term and leadership, BCA acquired another non-profit to broaden its scope of support services for the Bay View Hunters Point community, thus becoming Rafiki Coalition. Karen frequently represented Rafiki at city council meetings, and other community events, working closely with district supervisors of the time, Malia Cohen and London Breed (who is now the mayor of San Francisco). As a respected leader in the community, organizations such as 100 Black Men of the Bay Area and Open Conversations, called upon Karen to serve as moderator for some of their most emotionally charged town hall meetings during the Black Lives Matter Movement. 

 

 

 

Her first theatrical performance was in Oakland, CA, for "The V Monologues: A Black Woman's Interpretation" for which she received a standing ovation. After moving to Atlanta, GA, she landed a supporting role in director Nick Starr's production of "A Christmas Carol" at Marrietta's Theatre In The Square. She's a former fit model for GAP and has modeled for other products, campaigns, print advertisements, and digital ones worldwide. 

 

Karen Kennedy is a multifaceted comic whose clever and relatable style appeals to audiences of all kinds. Her off kilter jokes and cheerful personality entertains audiences coast to coast. She's performed at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, on The Funny Females of Atlanta show at Atlanta Comedy Theater, and featured for some of comedy's biggest names. In addition to her comedy career, she also serves as Mistress of Ceremonies for private and corporate events such as awards banquets, fashion shows, and wedding receptions and other special occasions. 

 

Karen was born and raised in Jackson, MS, but moved to Oakland, CA with her family when she was a child. She later credited the differences between these two places as a contributing factor to developing her etiquette school Lady Blossoms Finishing School for Girls in 2011.

 

From childhood, Kennedy has shown a talent for writing speeches. As Student Council Vice President and later President, she developed a lifelong passion for writing and delivering speeches. During her high school graduation ceremony, she delivered a speech as Senior Class President. 

 

 

In college, Kennedy studied Social and Behavioral Science; Communications;  and Liberal Arts, respectively. During her freshman year in college, she won a district-wide writing competition and presented the essay to her peers, faculty members and local news reporters in an awards ceremony.  A member of the National Forensic League, now known as the National Speech and Debate Team, she competed in debate and poetry interpretation (oratory). As an author, Kennedy has contributed to the success of two book titles "Socially Smart and Savvy" and Best Seller "Succeeding in Spite of Everything". which debuted at #1 in 9 categories on Amazon's list. She continues to be commissioned for speech writing, editing and copywriting. 

 

Finally, Karen is the proud mother of three daughters. Her oldest two graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northern Arizona University (via University of Surrey in Guildford, England), respectively. Her youngest is currently studying at DePaul University.

 

In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and running: the two sports she competed in off and on from elementary through high school. She continues to run and has completed one full marathon and over 15 half marathons because "she's lazy like that", she says. 

 

Karen Kennedy can be heard as a recurring guest comic on the current season of "Quake's House", the #1 show on Sirius XM on Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud Radio, channel 96. 

 

 

 

LBGTQ+ ally