Karen Vaites

Karen Vaites is an entrepreneur-turned-children’s advocate with firm conviction about our ability to improve children’s learning outcomes. As founder of the Curriculum Insight Project, her sixth career startup, Karen has worked to foster grassroots advocacy for better reading curriculum in US schools. Karen has penned breakthrough coverage on the Southern Surge, the absence of books from ELA curricula, and the highs and lows of the ‘Science of Reading’ era. She was also a prominent advocate for school reopening during the prolonged pandemic school closures in the United States. Prior to her advocacy chapter, Karen was the founding Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Open Up Resources, which became the fastest-growing K-12 startup under her leadership. Previously, she served as Chief Marketing Officer at both LightSail Education and Noodle Markets. Karen crafted the digital strategy for Student Achievement Partners and she has consulted for multiple literacy nonprofits. Before moving into K–12 Education, Karen worked in online travel, most recently as Managing Director of Expedia's Private Label Distribution business in Europe, a $980M business which she led to triple-digit growth.