Karen Sims, ICA’s New Director of Resource Development Starts June 16, 2008

For the last five years Karen Sims has been the Director of Development for the Schools of St. Benedict. It is the only preK - grade 12 complex in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The Schools have three schools, two boards, two Development Committees, two Parent Clubs, numerous and separate fundraising events, annual fund campaigns, major gift societies, and bequest/planned giving efforts.

Prior to that she started and managed a fundraising consulting firm since 1998. For a decade prior to that Karen was the Vice President of Development for the 500 member Executive Service Corps. The Corps is an association of retired senior executives and is the largest nonprofit management consulting organization to other nonprofits, public schools, and government units in the country. In the Chicago area it works with more than 200 nonprofits a year. Karen was responsible for creating an environment that generated goodwill, clients, and both contributed and earned income from corporations, foundations, board members, individuals, friends and volunteers.

She applied her trade at DePaul University where she was Director of the 56,000 member national alumni association. Along the way she became an entrepreneur and was a partner in a consulting firm that specialized in financial marketing. Everywhere that Karen has worked has become more effective and more financially sound because of her tenure. 

Karen is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Archdiocesan Development Council, Donor’s Forum and the Association Forum. She is a trained and certified Lay Minster in the Archdiocese of Chicago. She has conducted Synectics' Innovation Workshops to solve nonprofit organizations' management dilemmas. Karen has also written a regularly featured Development column for the newsletters of the National Association of Lay Ministers and the National Association of Women Business Owners. In addition, she is a graduate of Chicago's Second City Training Center in both improvisation and comedy writing and holds BA from DePaul University.  Karen is married and they have one adult daughter.