Speaker

Karen S. Carter serves as Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer for Dow. As Chief Human Resources Officer, Carter is responsible for developing and implementing human resources policies and practices to support the company’s global workforce, which includes talent, recruiting, compensation, benefits, and employee experience. 

As Dow’s first Chief Inclusion Officer, she guides and directs the Company’s efforts to create a more inclusive environment and diverse workforce while integrating inclusion as a key driver for business success. 

Carter has more than 25 years of experience with Dow. Before assuming her current responsibilities, Carter held the role of North America commercial vice president, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics (P&SP). While serving in that role, Carter was a member of the global business leadership team and was responsible for the overall profit & loss of P&SP’s North America region. 

Carter has held a variety of global business positions throughout her career, including global business director and global marketing director for Dow P&SP, and has also held roles within Building and Construction, Polyethylene, Engineering Thermoplastics, Fabricated Products and Information Technology Equipment and Consumer Electronics. 

Carter is on the board of directors for the Great Lakes Bay Region Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She is also a previous member of the Dow Kakoh Kabushiki Kaisha board of directors, a joint venture between Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited and The Dow Chemical Company, and previously served as board chair of the Adoption Option, Inc. board of directors. Carter is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and is on the Catalyst Board of Advisors. 

Carter has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Howard University and a master’s degree in international business from DePaul University. Carter has been published in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association and featured in Chemical Week, the Huffington Post, MORE Magazine, and the Disrupt Yourself Podcast and The Future of Work Podcast. In 2014, Carter was named to the prestigious Forty Women to Watch Over 40 list for her innovative leadership contributions. In 2018, she was named to Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Diversity list and received Northwood University’s Distinguished Women Award. In 2019, Carter was named to Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women in Corporate America list, and most recently was recognized as one of the 100 Ethnic Minority Executives on the EMpower Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists supported by Yahoo Finance.