Karen Hinds
Founder & CEO
Karen Hinds is a highly regarded leadership and diversity and inclusion expert who has partnered with organizations to build talent pipelines, facilitate leadership programs, and develop more inclusive cultures across the United States, the Caribbean, and South America.
Originally from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Karen left the island at age 15 with her parents and siblings to pursue educational opportunities in the United States. The transition to a new country, culture, and school made it imperative for Karen to learn how to quickly adapt to change, thrive as an outsider, and build strategic relationships.
A graduate of Bowdoin College with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish, Karen was chosen as one of 65 recipients for the national Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship, a grant that enables recipients to pursue a yearlong independent study outside of the United States. The Fellowship was established by the children of Thomas J. Watson, a former Chairman and CEO of IBM.
Karen has authored five books and hundreds of business columns for international publications. For three years, Karen hosted a global women and girls leadership conference to develop female Caribbean leaders. She is known as a beach snob who loves the water. She also enjoys running obstacle races and recently rekindled her passion for weight lifting as a hobby.
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Meet Karen Hinds
Growing up in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, before I migrated to the U.S. with my family, one of my elementary school teachers wrote the following on my report card: “Karen is a good student, but she is too talkative.” There’s a lesson in that comment: sometimes we fail to recognize and nurture the hidden gifts that will make our emerging leaders successful. In my case, being talkative has been my secret sauce and what I get to do every day—as a trainer, facilitator, and coach—to help leaders and teams thrive.
I started WSG because I wanted to help develop the next generation of diverse leaders. The inspiration came while I worked in a Boston high school, helping juniors and seniors navigate internships in the financial services industry. At the time, building diverse talent and pipelines was a bold step, which put me on a path to do Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work before it was popular. Over the last 22 years, our mission has expanded, but we have never wavered from developing leaders—those who lead today and those who will lead tomorrow.