Karen J. Scott holds a BA (Sociology) from York University and has been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from The Project Management Institute (PMI) in the United States for 20 years. She plans to continue post-graduate studies in 2022. The majority of Karen’s career has been spent in IT, in Canada, Europe, and the United States managing global programs and projects with worldwide teams for major corporations, among them the implementation of the Euro currency for the Opel Bank.

Karen’s transition into the not-for-profit sector and humanitarian work began in 2010 when she returned from the United States. She became a Travelling Volunteer for Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) which has taken her to India, Sri Lanka, Togo, and Kenya. As a member of The Rotary Club of Toronto, which she joined in 2014, Karen has been involved in a variety of initiatives locally, provincially, and internationally. Karen became involved in refugee sponsorship in the spring of 2015 and served as the Co-Chair of the Metropolitan United Syrian Refugee Sponsorship Committee for 18 months during the resettlement of one of the first Syrian refugee families to arrive in Canada in December 2015. Karen has also served on the Workshop Committee of the Etobicoke Network of Refugee Sponsors (ENRS) since 2017 and is currently a member of the Islington United Church Refugee Support Ministry. Karen has also recently been appointed to the Board of the Private Refugee Sponsor Network (PRSN).

Karen held the position of Senior Manager, IT & New Media at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) from 2017 – 2019. Karen joined Muslim Children’s Aid and Support Services (MCASS) as a Program Manager in October 2019 and was appointed Executive Director in April 2020. Karen is passionate about human rights, peace and social justice, and diversity and inclusion and is honoured to serve the diverse Muslim communities and all children, youth, and family who connect with us from across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and beyond.