Women Who Mean Business: Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter loves to execute a good turnaround.
After starting her career as a social worker, she became a leader under five New York governors, and across a variety of private sector roles. She’s made a name for herself as someone who thrives in a crisis, and who can get a battered organization back on its feet.
Her most recent success in that realm is with Vanderheyden, where she arrived in 2012 and pulled the human-services nonprofit out of financial ruin.
How would you describe yourself as a leader? I'm always in a car, or I'm walking around visiting programs [asking]. “How are you doing?” That's how I do a turnaround and keep it going. Because it's easy to get from poor to good. Getting from good to great is that much harder. I ask the kids we serve, and I ask my team members, “If you were CEO, what would you do? What's working, what's not?” And I get my best ideas from that.
What’s next for Vanderheyden? We give food, shelter and clothing. So now it's about what happens to them after they leave us at 21. What jobs do they have?
I was at [The Vandy thrift shop] the other day, and one of the young women said, “Miss Karen, I am not getting on that cash register.” And I was like, “You are. Let's go.” … I say it facetiously, but that kid's never going to get a job if she can't conquer a fear, right? She's going to walk out every time she has to address something that she doesn't want to do. So she's got to try. And our job is to do it along with her, so the next time she's not so afraid.
Tell me about your life outside of work. My family's first. I mean, I hung up on the governor when my son was getting off his first day of kindergarten. The same with my community. I care. I'm on all these boards because I care about the efforts, and how can I help? I try to be a connector. I try to [ask], “How can we make whatever the situation is better for those that are in it?”
Interview has been edited and condensed.
Karen Carpenter
Age: 62
Title: President and CEO
Company: Vanderheyden
Where she grew up: Elmira
Residence: Guilderland
Education: Bachelor’s in social work, Rochester Institute of Technology; master’s in social work, Adelphi University
Family: Adult children, Kyle and Kyra; and two Old English Sheepdogs
Vanderheyden
Annual budget: Over $30 million
Employees: More than 500
People served by Vanderheyden staff each day: More than 700