Karen Bassarab
Senior Program Officer, Food Communities & Public Health
Karen is a senior program officer with the Food Communities and Public Health Program, primarily responsible for managing the Food Policy Network project, a national resource hub for local and regional councils from across the United States and Canada. Karen enjoys the dynamic work of this role to support the development of lasting policy solutions that account for regional environmental, political and cultural variations, and can affect all aspects of the food system.
Karen has followed a winding path through Brazil, North Dakota, Austin and Houston, Texas, Washington, DC and now Baltimore, Maryland, to experience the complexity of local food systems. Prior to joining the Center for a Livable Future, Karen worked for a national nonprofit organization on strategies to maximize use of the federal nutrition programs to end childhood hunger. She also served as a food systems planning and policy consultant assessing the food landscapes of Austin and Houston, Texas. She has conducted demographic analysis for a transportation planning organization, taught graduate students how to use geographic information system (GIS) technology and helped families to plant food gardens. Karen holds dual master's degrees in Community and Regional Planning and Public Policy from the University of Texas at Austin.