Karen Bartuch

Dr. Karen Bartuch enjoys tackling tough problems and deploying an evidence-based approach. She currently leads the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at North Central College as its executive director. She is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University.

Karen's experience spans more than 20 years in both the public and private sector at the second largest police department in the country, a Fortune 500 telecommunications corporation, top consulting firm in the world and several startups including her own. She spent almost a decade as a Chicago police officer in a variety of assignments including patrol, gang team, intelligence and counter-terrorism and most notably as a policy adviser for the superintendent of police. In 2011, she successfully transitioned to the private sector joining Motorola Solutions, Inc., where her work included developing advanced analytics solutions for law enforcement as well as communications, marketing, portfolio and project management. In 2016, she joined PwC in the advisory business. Her responsibilities included business development, client delivery, innovation and go-to-market strategy.

Karen holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Northwestern University, a Master's degree in Communications from DePaul University and recently completed her doctorate in Business Administration at DePaul University. Karen's research interests include creativity, innovation, gender and humor. She is an avid volunteer with organizations such as Girl Scouts and serves on the auxiliary board of the Chicago Police Foundation.