Board Spotlight: Karen Knudsen

Welcome to our series celebrating our fantastic board members! Their bios are here, but there's so much more to know about their service, skills and passion below.

Karen is a recently retired nonprofit Executive Director, with a 31-year career at the Clark Fork Coalition.  She is a founding member of the Climate Smart Missoula board, which officially gained 501 c 3 status in 2019.

How would you like to introduce yourself to folks, when it comes to serving on the Climate Smart Missoula board?
I served from 2007 to 2024 as the Executive Director of the Missoula-based Clark Fork Coalition, a river conservation group working to protect and restore the historically hard-working Clark Fork watershed. Early in my stint as E.D., my organization became concerned about an emerging new threat – namely, the fundamental shift in Montana’s climate and its intensifying impacts on the health of the watershed. Our response included launching a stream restoration program, doubling-down on state water policy reform, and sparking dialogue in Missoula about what climate change means for our hometown rivers and the communities they sustain. We were pleased that the conversation not only struck a chord in the community, but that it expanded far beyond water, and helped bring about the solutions-oriented work of Climate Smart Missoula. It’s been deeply satisfying to be a part of this vital effort since the start!

What skills / perspectives are you proud to bring to the board? 
Given my career in the world of water, I bring perspectives on how climate change impacts community water supplies and waterways, which is one of the most profound and tangible ways western Montanans experience a warming West. As a former nonprofit E.D., I also have skills in calibrating organizations for innovation and impact through strategic planning, governance, and outreach. I have a “swing for the fences” mindset and am wired to be proactive and positive.

What is your favorite part about serving? And / or what program at Climate Smart Missoula gets you most excited? 
It’s deeply satisfying to serve on the board of Climate Smart Missoula. The work of the organization is important, meaningful, and based on giving back, and the team is energetic and action-oriented, with moonshot aspirations. Between the mission, the people, and the collaborative approaches, Climate Smart Missoula has created a space that is exciting and rewarding to be a part of.

What is your hope for our community, related to your goals and our work at Climate Smart Missoula?
My hope is that we keep thinking beyond yesterday’s toolbox and work together to infuse climate resilience and climate equity into everything we do as a community.

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