Karen Morris

Karen Morris is a Strategic Advisor specializing in all aspects of innovation strategy and execution. She has developed unique, cutting edge methods and metrics for innovation and growth.

Karen has designed and executed strategic projects across a spectrum of issues from organizational redesign, product and service (re)creation, brand positioning, customer-centricity and distribution management, amongst others. She has focused particularly on CEO/President leadership skills for building innovation capabilities organizationally.

Karen was formerly Chief Innovation Officer of AIG and, prior to that, International Underwriting Counsel and Head of Product and Service Development for Chubb. She was European General Counsel for Kimberly Clark, a Fortune 500 company.

Karen has been a long-term innovation advisor to W. R. Berkley and Hyperion Group’s MGA, Lloyds’ largest international cover holder.

An English barrister, Karen has over 25 years’ experience in law, management, underwriting and multinational business. This rich and diverse international background informs her insight on product, service and business model innovation. She is a frequent speaker and writer on innovation and leadership at global forums and conferences around the world, including TEDx. Karen is a Senior Fellow of The Institute for Innovation in Large Organizations.

Karen served as adjunct professor at Fordham University in New York teaching Innovation and customer-centricity as part of the MBA program. She has been a visiting lecturer at universities in France and Spain, including IESE, voted the world’s foremost executive MBA program. She was appointed to the Advisory Board of The Howe School of Business at The Stevens Institute of Technology, The World BPO Forum and the University of Colorado.

Karen is a co-founder and director of The Global Sourcing Council, a not-for-profit committed to economic and sustainable best practice in the domain of global sourcing. In this connection, she has given pro-bono advisory support to developing countries’ presidents and their governments including the Philippines, Bangladesh and Mauritius.

Karen advises and mentors technology start-ups through a variety of programs at Columbia University/PowerbridgeNY and Cleantech Open.