Karen Downing is the education librarian at the University Library at the University of Michigan and is currently serving a three-year term as an elected member of the American Library Association's (ALA) Executive Board. She received her PhD in education in 2009 from the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE) and her master's in library science (MILS) in 1989, both from the U-M. In past positions, she coordinated the social sciences, directed the nationally renowned Peer Information Counseling program (a retention program for underrepresented minorities), served as assistant to the dean for cultural diversity, and as coordinator of academic outreach. In 2009, she received the ALA Equality Award, and in 2010 she was named the first Diversity Research Center Visiting Scholar at Rutgers Newark. Karen is very involved in ALA and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), where she currently co-chairs the ACRL 2017 National Conference Keynote Committee, serves as an elected ALA Councilor-at-large and chaired the Committee on Education. She also co-chaired the International Federation of Library Association's (IFLA) Section on Education & Training, and is now a corresponding member. She has published and presented extensively on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, new models for library collaboration, instruction, and leadership throughout the library organization.