Dr. Karen Lawson is an international consultant, speaker, and author. As founder and president of Lawson Consulting Group, Inc., she has built a successful consulting firm specializing in organization and management development as well as executive coaching. She has extensive consulting and seminar experience in the areas of team development, communication, leadership, and quality service across a wide range of industries. Clients include a variety of prominent organizations from financial services, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, manufacturing, health care, government, and education. In her consulting work with Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses, she uses her experience and knowledge of human interaction to help leaders at all levels make a difference in their organizations.

Karen is the author of The Trainer's Handbook of Leadership Development, The Art of Influencing, Improving On-the-Job Training and Coaching, Improving Performance Through Coaching, The Trainer's Handbook, Involving Your Audience—Making It Active, Skill Builders: 50 Communication Activities, New Employee Orientation Training, Leadership Development Basics, and 101 Ways to Make Training Active (co-author). She has also written chapters for many professional collections in addition to numerous articles in professional journals. In addition, she has created several assessment instruments and developed new, cutting-edge learning tools and delivery methods, including a 12-session professional development audio series for managers; web-based training programs; and teletraining courses.

She holds a doctor of philosophy degree in adult and organization development from Temple University; a master of arts in English from the University of Akron; and a bachelor of arts from Mount Union College. She is also a graduate of the National School of Banking in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is one of only 400 people worldwide to have earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the 4,000-member National Speakers Association. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding contribution to the training and speaking professions and was also named one of Pennsylvania's “Best 50 Women in Business” as well as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal's “Women of Distinction.”

She has been actively involved in professional organizations such as the National Speakers Association and the Association for Talent Development (formerly ASTD), holding leadership positions at both the local and national levels. She is also an active member of the Union League of Philadelphia.

Karen is currently an adjunct professor at DeSales University and Arcadia University in their MBA programs and has taught at several colleges and universities at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition, she conducts online programs for the United Nations System Staff College. She has presented at several professional conferences in the United States, Asia, and Europe.