About
Karen O’Leonard has been bringing new solutions to market for more than two decades.…
Articles by Karen
Activity
1K followers
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisSDSU and Women's Empowerment International kicked off a pilot program for 21 women experiencing homelessness in San Diego. These women have been done a 12 week journey centered on mental health, financial literacy, and economic stability. Led by Lianne Urada, PhD, MSW, LCSW and supported by dedicated SDSU students and volunteers, the program is already seeing strong engagement and momentum. We invite our supporters to join an upcoming session to learn more about this impact for work – contact me or Sarah Adams to find out more. #IWD2026 #WomensEmpowerment
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisAt Women's Empowerment International's recent fall fundraiser, I was honored to introduce our new grant partners. These include a project with SDSU Research Foundation focusing on San Diego homeless women, led by Dr. Lianne Urada, and Tipey Joa Native Warriors (https://www.tipeyjoa.org), a project for indigenous women in Southern California and Baja led by “Martha” Rodriguez. My fellow board members Mae Brown and Tanvi Jaluka helped to welcome these new partners. It was a great afternoon and so energizing to be around friends and allies who are doing so much to empower women.
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisComing on the heels of our Product of the Year Award at last week’s HRTech Conference, we just launched Expert Pro. Congrats to Edward Kim, Stephen Young, and the entire Expert team!
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisHonored to celebrate #IWD2025 in Honduras alongside fellow Board members and allies from Women's Empowerment International. This week we have had the privilege of meeting Honduran women entrepreneurs who are growing their businesses to uplift their families and communities. One example is Iveth, pictured here, who secured a microloan five years ago to start a pig farming business through our grant partner, Adelante. She received funding to get her business off the ground and gained skills in budgeting, animal care, and farm management. Since then she has doubled the size of her business, expanding her facilities to house more pigs and safeguard against flooding. Iveth, along with so many other creative and determined women we met, is a role model for all of us. A huge thanks to my fellow travelers Linda A. Kurtz, SPHR-CA, Nancy Kramer, our wonderful allies, and Jodi Fischer and the Adelante Foundation team for their unwavering support of Honduran women for the past 20+ years. #WomensEmpowerment
-
Karen O'Leonard reposted thisKaren O'Leonard reposted thisSay hello to the AI assistant you’ve been waiting for. Expert is the HR expert for HR professionals — powered by the industry-leading intelligence of WTW. #HR #AI #artificalintelligence https://www.wtwexpert.com/
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisI am proud to be on the Board of Women's Empowerment International, which just celebrated 20 years of helping to lift women out of poverty. Our organization has helped thousands of women start their own businesses, such as creating and selling beautiful arts and crafts. Thank you to our dynamic speakers Linda L. Katz, Nancy Maldonado, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, Terra Lawson-Remer and many others for your support during our 20th anniversary event!
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisI had the pleasure of judging one of the Project Invent innovation competitions last weekend at San Diego's e3 Civic High school. The students - grades 7 through 12 - were the most exuberant and fearless group of innovators I have ever met! They had clearly been coached well and applied design thinking principles to their solutions, which sought to solve real-world problems like water shortages in California, well-being for remote workers, and difficulties faced by migrant workers. The photo below is one of the middle school teams with their prototype of a solution to help people with rheumatoid arthritis. Each team had a demo of their prototype and gave a 5-minute pitch focused on the problem they were trying to solve, their solution, target buyer or user, addressable market, and impact their solution will have - the same framework we use in our WTW colleague innovation competitions. Winning teams received $500 to use to advancing their idea to the next stage of development. Project Invent provides resources and development for students and their teachers, and I was so impressed with the quality of the demo's, the pitches, and the commitment of everyone involved in this weekend's activities. There are plenty of ways to get involved if you're interested in helping our next generation of entrepreneurs. Thank you to Kerry Hynes and Jax Chaudhry to including me in this valuable program. #ProjectInvent
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisI love working with such creative, innovative colleagues like Amanda Scott...Karen O'Leonard shared thisThe rise of the Intrapreneur. A call to action. I’d like to celebrate this recent comment on LinkedIn: “many companies are cultivating “intrapreneurs” and creating environments for them to succeed. The rise of "intrapreneurship" reflects a shift towards more dynamic and flexible organizational structures that embrace creativity, collaboration, and agility. The pace of change necessitates this.” This was made by Imran Qureshi (my boss) in the context of WTW and fulfilling the needs of entrepreneurial talent. Many of you know I’m part of a team that loves building solutions, challenging how things are done, and playing with technology, client needs and WTW expertise until we have a new recipe for the future. And I’m grateful that WTW encourages this day to day, and particularly through our Horizons innovation accelerator process. The week Horizons voting launches for WTW colleagues! Three ideas are in the running for the last Horizons pitch slot – and one of them is M&A!! I encourage all colleagues to vote the idea that you believe is a true game changer. Of course, I’ve got my views as to which one is the most impactful. (Very impartially of course 😉). WTW colleagues vote by Friday, 3 May! And for those of you who are curious about what we’re building and are a friends/family client wanting to input and pilot for the future, always happy to chat and innovate. If you need the link, let me know. Happy to help. #subliminalmessaging #onlyHWCsolution2vote4 #opportunity4CRB2 #mergersandacquisitions #intrapreneurship #Horizons2024 #VotebyFRIDAY James Plomer, Sid Chakraborty, Aleksejs Cens, Steven Rosenberg, Jana Mercereau, Ellen Federman, Freny Pavri
-
Karen O'Leonard shared thisShining a spotlight on female innovators: https://lnkd.in/gCFyduZv
Karen O'Leonard commented on a post
2mo
I was recently treated by a fire dept crew after an accident and I can say that these guys are heroes. They see a lot of trauma and I’m glad they’re getting the support they need.
-
Karen O'Leonard liked thisKaren O'Leonard liked thisIf it happens twice, it’s not a coincidence. Expert just earned its second award! A testament to innovation that performs not just in theory, but in the real world. https://ow.ly/9vmG50YrtQw Two wins, one relentless team and zero plans to slow down. Lighthouse Technology Services UNLEASH
-
Karen O'Leonard liked thisCongrats to Lianne Urada, PhD, MSW, LCSW on this well deserved recognition! 🎉 We’re grateful for our long-standing partnership with SDSU & especially proud of the research we’ve engaged in with Dr. Urada and her students. Our most recent project, “Bupe by the Book,” explored tele-MAT for unhoused individuals who frequent our local libraries. The #VillageHealthCenter team is always game to pilot new interventions and explore ways to reduce barriers to care commonly experienced by people experiencing homelessness. We look forward to continued research exploration with Dr. Urada to identify best practices in serving our community’s most vulnerable. 💙 #BupeByTheBook #FatherJoesVillages #SDSU #MAT #HarmReductionSavesLives #EndHomelessness #HealthcareForAllKaren O'Leonard liked thisCongratulations to Lianne A. Urada, PhD, MSW, LCSW, recipient of the SDSU Excellence in Community Engaged Learning (ExCEL) Award! 🎉 Dr. Urada, Associate Professor of Social Work, is recognized for her outstanding contributions to community-engaged teaching and research. Her work focuses on developing innovative solutions to address homelessness and human trafficking, including leading the NIH-funded “Bupe by the Book” pilot program in partnership with San Diego Public Libraries and Father Joe’s Villages to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment via telehealth. Through her research, community partnerships, and courses like Homelessness: Social Work Solutions, Dr. Urada empowers students to collaborate with local organizations to create real-world impact for unsheltered and vulnerable populations in San Diego. We are proud to celebrate her dedication to advancing community safety, economic independence, and compassionate solutions to homelessness. ❤️🖤 #SDSU #CHHS #CommunityEngagement #SocialWork #AztecForLife
-
Karen O'Leonard liked thisKaren O'Leonard liked thisBack in the classroom! 2026 has me launching into a quiet dream I’ve had for a few years now - to academically understand Lifestyle, Health, Medicine and Wellness. Halfway through our virtual class, along with 123 other students from around the globe, Harvard Medical School is delivering on the information: how to motivate myself and others; understanding the parasympathetic nervous system; supporting versus lecturing; lifestyle choices and happy aging; and behavior-changing strategies (hard stuff!). Reflective questions: Can I really be happy if I am physically unhealthy? It’s unlikely. Does physical health guarantee emotional happiness? Nope. Does emotional well-being positively influence my physical well-being? Absolutely. It’s a wonderful thing to be alive (now!) when authoritive medicine is earnestly validating the connection between nutrition, exercise, thoughts in my head, choices I make throughout the day, and a life that will (or will not) feel meaningful. It’s actually predictive research! COACH: Curious, Open, Appreciative, Compassionate, Honesty. Empathy, rapport, and a strong connection to myself will be immediate goals with clients seeking change.
-
Karen O'Leonard liked thisKaren O'Leonard liked thisWhat a treat to observe Tina Casola, LMFT in action, presenting on Emotional Health in the Fire Service, Rancho Santa Fe. She knows her stuff! Our professional careers have continued to cross paths - graduate students at the University of San Diego, private practice in Carlsbad, VA research in La Jolla - and here we are again, looking at expanding programs for firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders in 2026. First Alarm Wellness. “Lighten the backpack.” 🎒🚒🚑👮🏽♂️
-
Karen O'Leonard liked thisKaren O'Leonard liked thisWow, what a night! Warning: Expert’s win at #HRTech led to some excessive excitement and new inspiration. We’re already working on what’s next and building out Expert #AI to bring smarter, faster clarity that leads to action. Stay tuned for some exciting news before the end of September. https://ow.ly/g57t50WXJfF For now, enjoy the pictures from last night. And a big thank you to Edward Kim, Karen O'Leonard and Stephen Young for accepting the award on behalf of Expert.
Experience & Education
-
Women's Empowerment International
View Karen’s full experience
See their title, tenure and more.
or
Publications
-
A Breed Apart
HR Executive Magazine
See publicationAs HR executives plan their investments for the coming year, they should look to leading organizations for some tips. Our latest HR benchmarking study reveals stark differences between the spending and staffing models of high-impact HR organizations and their peers.
-
Quoted in "How Data Analytics is Revolutionising..."
Work (Quarterly Journal from CIPD)
How predictive analytics is transforming the way we manage employees.
-
Universal Leadership Competencies: Does One Size Fit All?
Human Capital Leadership Institute
See publicationAn exploration of the question "Can the same set of competencies be used for leaders across the globe?"
-
Quoted in "Learning Analytics at JetBlue"
CLO Magazine
How JetBlue and other organizations are using analytics to evaluate the impact of their learning initiatives.
Other authors -
-
Overall Spending on Training Jumps 15% in Effort to Stem Skills Gaps
Willis.com HR Corner
Other similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content