2012 leading women entrepreneurs finalist karen kessler
Karen Kessler is a founding member and president of Evergreen Partners Inc., a full-service public relations, crisis and strategic communications firm. She is a script consultant for television shows including “The Good Wife” and “Nashville.” She has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and has lent her expertise to the Today show and Fox News. She has been recognized by NJ BIZ as one of the “50 Most Powerful Non-Profit Board Members,” “50 Most Powerful Women,” Jewish Women International’s “10 Women to Watch in the USA” and NJ Monthly’s “Leading Women Entrepreneurs.”
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Karen kessler evergreen partners one on one
Professional roles
Kessler has been the spokeswoman for prominent clients including the New York Jets and New York Giants, former Port Authority Chairman David Samson, and many other New Jersey politicians and corporate executives.
She served as a script consultant for hit shows “The Good Wife” and “Nashville,” providing insights into the role and responsibility of a crisis manager.
Nonprofit leadership involvement
Kessler serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AllSpire Health Partners, the nation’s largest health consortium, and of the Atlantic Health System. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Northfield Bancorp,Inc. and is a member of the NJ Advisory Committee to the NJ Supreme Court on Judicial Conduct. She is on the Board of Directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield and she serves on the boards of the Garden State Arts Center Foundation and the Drumthwacket Foundation as well. She is a trustee of scholarship funds at Princeton University and Monmouth University.
Education and career
Kessler has an AB in economics from Vassar College (’78), where she was inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international economics honor society.
After college, she took a job as a program officer for a New York City-based foundation. Three years after, she started as the executive director of the Democratic Committee's northeast regional office. In 1984, Kessler joined the American Stock Exchange and became the Vice President of Corporate Communications. During her tenure, she received honors including the Gold Key Award from the Public Relations Society of America, YWCA Achievers Award, and the Crisis Management Award from PR NEWS. She then worked for former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio as the director of transitions, where she met her future business partner, Mindy Cohen.
Ms. Kessler founded Evergreen Partners in 1993. Evergreen Partners Inc. is based in Warren, New Jersey.
Family life
Ms. Kessler was raised in Westfield, New Jersey. She has three daughters.