Karen Meadows

After a six-year battle with her teenage daughter’s depression and subsequent suicide, Karen Meadows left behind her successful career in the energy industry to immerse herself in mental health issues. She spent years reading about mental illness and reading her daughter’s extensive writing. She volunteered on a crisis line and at homeless youth centers, and serves on the Oregon Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Board of Directors. She also serves on the Oregon Health Authority’s Children’s System Advisory Committee. This committee advises state policies regarding children’s mental health. She has an Executive MBA from UW-Madison, an MS in Engineering from UC Boulder, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Meadows lives with her husband and two cats in Portland, Oregon.