Karen has been involved with the 4-H program in Lake County for thirty years. She has been the organizational leader of the Chain O' Lakes 4-H Club for the entire time. The club currently has more than 20 members and its focus is on public speaking, horse projects, officer training, goats, and building the members’ leadership skills. Karen has also chaired many of the Lake County 4-H Committees like the Horse Committee, Officer Training, Public Speaking, and 4-H Records for several years. She focuses on building members with good speaking skills, strong leadership skills and emphasizes the importance of working as a team. Karen also concentrates on making the 4-H members aware of the importance of giving back to the community, be it assistance at the Forest Preserves, gardening at the wetlands, planting flowers at the local library or collecting for the food pantries.