Karen is a Presidential Management Fellowship with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, currently detailed to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.  Previously, she completed rotations in the immediate office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Embassy Windhoek, Namibia, Office of Management and Budget, and in OSD Policy/DASD Plans.  She is a 2010 graduate of the M.S. in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University, where she served as a teaching assistant to Secretary Madeleine Albright.  At Georgetown, Karen was one of the founding members of the university chapter of Student Veterans of America, and assisted with developing Deutsche Bank's Veterans on Wall Street initiative.  She is a US Air Force reservist and an assistant air attaché to Latin America.  Previously, Karen served as an active duty C-17 pilot, flying operational missions in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and South America.