Getting to Know Your Trillium Council – Karen Dowhan
CSAE Trillium Network Council represents members across our regional network. This series of articles will allow you to get to know the volunteers who make up the 2021 Council. Each Council member was asked to answer questions about their professional and personal lives – to share a little of themselves. This month’s Council profile is of Karen Dowhan.
Karen Dowhan is the Director of Conventions of Tourism London. She is truly proud to say she has been an active and engaged member of CSAE for over 25 + years! It has been a great experience for her and has provided many opportunities to be involved through networking with like-minded people. She notes that “One thing about volunteering is that you can always find something that you’ll enjoy or can share your expertise in.”
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/karen-dowhan-74152716 or follow her on Twitter @KarenDowhan
When asked about her motivation to join the Council, Karen stated:
Volunteering is very gratifying and has been important in maximizing my CSAE member experience. Doing something meaningful, and something that you believe worthwhile is an incredibly rewarding experience and it’s a pleasure to serve alongside seasoned leaders.
When asked what she wished all members knew about the Council, Karen responded:
I enjoy the collaborative and creative effort with committee initiatives and seeing the energy and passion excel from others. Continuous learning and volunteerism are the keys to my success within our association industry – taking on every task, rising to every challenge and seizing every opportunity to learn.
Other than Council, Karen is also involved in the following committees:
She is the Vice Chair, of the FORUM e-Newsletter Committee (Nov 2019 – Nov 2020), the Chair of the CSAE Trillium Winter Summit Committee (Oct 2020 – March 2021), and a member of the CSAE Trillium Awards Committee (Aug 2020 – Present). She also noted the great experience of participating as a mentor in the first CSAE next-gen Mentorship Program back in April/May ’21.
When asked who inspires you, Karen had the following to say:
My Mother has always been my greatest inspiration and the light in my life. Her patience, the way she loves, brings joy and the lessons learned have always taught me to be a good person.
When asked if she won the lottery what would she do, Karen had the following to say:
Ilove dreaming about the lottery and visualize myself winning one day. What I would do is determined on the size of the prize. Firstly, pay off my mortgage and eliminate that debt. Then help my kids pay their student loans and set them up for home ownership. Help other family members as best as I could.
Karen’s proudest accomplishment is:
Becoming a mother of two healthy children who are the love of my life.
And one thing that people would be surprised to know about Karen is:
I transferred my job and left home when I was 19 and relocated to New Brunswick. I lived in Moncton, Fredericton and Oromocto over a course of three years.
Karen has been a dedicated passionate volunteer with CSAE for many years and it has been a pleasure getting to know her a little better. We look forward to ‘introducing’ you to the other members of the Trillium Network Council over the next several issues of FORUM.
