Karen Warner is the Founder and CEO of BEAM Circular, a hub for circular bioeconomy innovation in California’s agricultural heartland that is working to create good jobs and scale environmental solutions at the intersections of biotechnology, agriculture, and manufacturing. Karen began her career in global health, building health system strengthening programs in the US and East Africa. She went on to serve in a variety of nonprofit, governmental, and private sector roles focused on scaling social impact and public-private partnerships, including at Emerson Collective in Palo Alto, in the Office of the Governor of Colorado, and at medical device company Medtronic in Minneapolis. In 2018 she moved back to the San Joaquin Valley of California, where she was born and raised, and served as District Chief of Staff for a United States Congressional Representative prior to launching BEAM Circular. Karen has a BA in Human Biology and MBA from Stanford University, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.