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Biography
Dr. Karen Somerville is an award-winning leader with more than 25 years of senior management experience. Her work in organizations has been broad and very diverse, including technology companies, the Canadian federal government, the World Bank and non-profits. While most of her life she has lived and worked in the Ottawa area, from 2008 to 2017 she lived and worked in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. She returned home to Ottawa in 2017.
Currently her professional focus is primarily in the areas of leadership development, which includes assessments, training and executive coaching. Somerville also works as an advisor and consultant to organizations often in the areas of governance, organizational change and organizational culture.
Somerville is also an experienced educator. She is currently an associate faculty member and subject matter expert with Athabasca University’s Faculty of Business teaching in its Executive MBA Program.
As an active researcher, her research has been published in a number of journals including Journal of Change Management, Public Administration Quarterly and The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management.
Somerville holds a PhD in Management from Carleton University, an MBA from the University of Ottawa, a Chartered Director designation (C.Dir.) from the Directors College, a Chartered Professional Account (CPA) designation, a Certified General Accountant (CGA) designation, and a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) designation from Royal Roads University. She is a member of the International Coach Federation.
She has held numerous positions on boards of directors over the past 30 years, including Vice-President of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton, President of the Ottawa Chapter of the Strategic Planning Forum, Vice-President of International Social Services Canada and Treasurer/Director of the Canada-Minnesota Business Council. She is currently the President and Co-Founder of Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH). Founded in 2004, CPBH is a national, not for profit corporation dedicated to healthy, safe, durable, energy efficient residential housing for Canadians, and is the only organization of its kind in Canada. Working for consumer awareness and protection, CPBH is run by a volunteer Board of Directors and is supported by a volunteer Advisory Council of industry experts and other key stakeholders. www.canadiansforproperlybuilthomes.com Twitter: @cpbh01
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadians-for-Properly-Built-Homes/1613240682226191
Recognition/Reconnaissance
Woman of Inspiration Award | Professional
Awarded to Karen Somerville in 2020 by the Universal Women's Network for "integrity".