Karen Downs

As chief communications officer for the American Cancer Society, Karen leads all communications for the organization, including issues management, executive communications, internal communications, and media relations. She serves as a crucial voice on the Executive Team, advising other ET members and volunteer leaders and informing organizational strategy on reputation, communications issues, and risk-related matters. As CCO, Karen is charged with elevating ACS’ mission, reputation, and relevance to the nation and the world.

Karen is a tenured and highly valued ACS executive leader with experience building and guiding teams across the organization, including previous interim roles as chief marketing officer. She has more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit marketing, data management, and operations.

Before joining ACS in 2015, Karen led direct mail, digital marketing, fundraising, monthly giving, and multichannel campaign development initiatives at a nonprofit and for an agency supporting nonprofit clients.

Karen has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Alabama and lives in Georgia, with her husband and two children..