Home » NKY Chamber honors Karen Cheser for work in developing region’s future workforce
Fort Mitchell, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce recently honored Karen Cheser, retiring superintendent of Fort Thomas Independent Schools, with the NKY Community Award.
Cheser has been instrumental in bringing innovation and focus to the future workforce in Northern Kentucky through projects such as the NKY MakerSpace, Ignite Institute, Launch at 20 Grand, LEGO League Robotics and the NKY Entrepreneurship Council.
Starting her career at Procter & Gamble in sales and brand management, Cheser pivoted to education, serving as a teacher, coach, literacy and math specialist, principal, chief academic officer and deputy superintendent among many roles before becoming superintendent at Fort Thomas in 2017.
She served as co-chair of the Northern Kentucky Education Council’s College and Career Readiness Coalition for 10 years, and led pillar two of GROW NKY, driving regional college and career readiness collaboration for the collective on behalf of the NKY Cooperative for Education services. Cheser is also a member of the Northern Kentucky Chamber’s executive committee.
Cheser’s next step will take her to Colorado, where she will become the superintendent of the Durango School District.
