Karen Vahouny

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Karen Vahouny

Adjunct Professor


Employer: Karen Vahouny Consulting

Title: Principal and Owner

Twitter: @KarenVahouny

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/karen-vahouny/9/b48/474 

Karen Vahouny has senior leadership experience on both the corporate and agency side, having served as a VP of corporate communications and later as a founding partner of a communications firm that grew to become one of the largest independent agencies in the U.S.  She embarked on a new career in 2011, starting her own communication consultancy with a client base that includes corporate, government, and non-profit clients.  Her work centers on leadership communication and executive communication coaching in the areas of change management, mergers and acquisitions, branding and messaging, and internal and external communication. The combination of her investor relations background, P&L experience, MBA, and teaching credentials are especially useful in bringing a business and results-oriented focus to her consulting clients.

She has served as an adjunct faculty member at three universities, teaching organizational communication in master’s degree and executive leadership programs and business/finance to GWU students in the strategic PR master’s program. Vahouny joined the advisory board of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) in 2020.  GFLEC is a non-profit focused on financial literacy research, education and policy and was cited by Barrons as one of three organizations “making a mark in improving financial literacy." Earlier, she served as chairman of the National Endowment for Financial Education and is a former executive board member of the International Association of Business Communicators and the Washington chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute.


Fundamentals of Business and Finance for Public Relations Professionals

"Investor Relations" chapter, The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication. (second edition, 2011)

 

Articles:

“How Business and Finance Skills Make Communicators Unstoppable,” PR Daily, Published by Ragan Communications.  First article in a four-part series,  April through July 2021

Century Leader Communication, “The 21st Simple + Straightforward = Success," Communication World magazine, Published by the International Association of Business Communicators, January 2014

“Communicating for Success Secrets from today’s successful business leaders," Leadership and Management Insights newsletter, Published by the Marymount University School of Business, October 2013

“Investor Relations Strategy Needs to Consider Mergers and Acquisitions," CW Bulletin, Published by the International Association of Business Communicators, May 2012

“Get Started on Your Communication Audit," Communication World magazine, Published by the International Association of Business Communicators, July/August 2009

M.B.A., George Mason University

B.S., University of Virginia