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Karen Cairney becomes Trustee

We are delighted to welcome Karen Cairney as a new trustee of Freedom From Fistula.  An experienced and established professional in the higher education, not-for-profit and fundraising sectors, Karen has worked as a senior-level professional in the charitable and educational sectors for over 25 years in Canada, US, Asia and the UK. She has experience working with a variety of different sectors including health, education, arts, environment and social services. 

Karen has led and implemented multi-million figure campaigns, and strategic and fundraising planning for the organisations and clients she has managed.  She has also led significant programmes of change with a focus on staff and individual development initiatives. Karen is also a coach, working with individuals and teams to maximise their performance.

While studying for and achieving a distinction in her MBA in 2011 from Edinburgh Napier University, Karen led their inaugural £100m campaign. This demonstrated a unique and bespoke approach to campaign execution, focusing not only on philanthropic opportunities but also on leveraging and creating opportunities from commercial and research sources. This campaign exceeded its goal and changed the face of income generation for the University. 

Over her career, Karen has personally raised over £200m for the organisations and clients she has served. She has extensive expertise in campaign and major gift solicitations, mass fundraising, managing volunteers, coaching and leadership, and strategy. 

Karen is a regular industry speaker at CASE, Institute of Fundraising and other industry forums.

“I was blown away to learn that over 2 million women and girls in Africa live with obstetric fistula and over half a million die with 80% of them being completely avoidable.  Therefore when asked by Ann Gloag to join the board as a Trustee, it was a no brainer.  I hope to contribute through my experience in fundraising ways that the Foundation can reach more women and girls each year!"