Karen Hartman

Karen Hartman is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Prevent Blindness, with financial responsibility for overseeing an organization dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight across all age spectrums.  We do this by educating the American public on the importance of taking care of their eyes and vision, by promoting advances in public health systems of care that support eye health needs, and by advocating for public policy that emphasizes early detection of vision problems and access to appropriate eye care.

Karen joined the organization in 2016. Her contributions to the organization beyond her regular responsibilities include establishing an professional vendor review schedule resulting in significant expense savings; leading projects with pro bono consulting resources to streamline operations and better capture the organizations mission impact; overseeing the migration of program database and account systems to new platforms to realize cost savings and more efficient reporting; and negotiating the sale of the office condominium and subsequent new lease which monetized and existing asset and replaced it with space more suitable to the organization’s needs.

Karen began her career with Continental Illinois National Bank (since acquired by Bank of America).  She served in a variety of capacities including as a general accountant, money market economist, bond portfolio trader, and derivatives trader.  She then took time away from her professional career to stay at home with her young children and became an active volunteer in her community.  Karen served for eight years on the School Board of Kenilworth School District #38, holding the roles of President, Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee and Chair of the Communications Committee during her tenure. She then re-entered the workforce as the Finance and Human Resources Director at Center for Independent Futures, an Evanston, IL based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities live full and more independent lives.

Originally from Missouri, Karen currently resides in Kenilworth, IL.  She holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In addition to her work at Prevent Blindness, Karen is a member-at-large of the Booth Alumni Nonprofit Consultants (BANC) operating board and a member of the Woman’s Club of Evanston.