Karen Sylvester has been a resident of the Conejo Valley for almost 30 years and has been an active volunteer supporting local public schools and the community.

For over 18 years, Karen served in various leadership positions for parent organizations in the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD).  These included President of the Westlake High School PTSA, President of the Westlake Hills Elementary School PFA, and Executive Vice President of the Colina Middle School PTSA.  She was also a member of the District Advisory Council (DAC) for 9 years and was on the School Site Councils for Westlake Hills Elementary School and Westlake High School.

Previously, Karen served two terms as an appointed Commissioner on the Thousand Oaks Council on Aging which advises the City Council on the needs and concerns of older adults. She was also a member of the CVUSD Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee which was created to oversee compliance and accountability with the Measure I school facilities bond.

Karen is a retired business and management consultant.  Her 15-year professional career included Vice President/Project Manager at CAST Management Consultants where she specialized in marketing and corporate strategy as well as operational restructuring and reengineering improvements. Prior to CAST, Karen worked at Bankers Trust Company where she was Vice President of the Retirement Services Division and an Assistant Vice President in the Bank’s internal Management Consulting Group. She was an Associate Consultant at Price Waterhouse.  At Chase Econometrics, Karen worked as an Economic Research Analyst and Account Relationship Manager.

Karen graduated with an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  She is married and has three children.  All three are graduates of the CVUSD.