Karen Wilde is currently employed as a tribal partnership specialist, U.S. Census Bureau. She also works at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus as a Senior Professional Research Associate/Project Coordinator at the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building. In this position, she serves as the primary point of contact for thirty demonstration projects across the nation. These community projects implement a program to prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetics. She was previously employed by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor as the Executive Secretary for Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs (CCIA) where she collaborated with federal, state and local agencies as the state advocate for the two sovereign Indian nations within the State of Colorado as well as all American Indians in Colorado. CCIA is the only statutory responsibility of the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Colorado. During this time, she was active in several legislative efforts such as an amendment to update the general education statute for the teaching of history, culture and civil government, the creation of a scholarship from fees for a special Colorado license plate, state compliance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act and played a major role to amend the complicated Unmarked Human Graves Act.
Wilde is a community advocate with leadership experience and effective organization skills. A short summary of her volunteer activities include Chair of the Board of Directors for the Denver Indian Family Resource Center (DIFRC), board member of the National Kidney Foundation-Colorado, Wyoming, & Montana Affiliate, Welcome Reception Chair for the 2007 National Congress of American Indians, co-Chair of the Local Planning Committee for the 2005 National Indian Education Association Convention, Colorado Historical Society American advisory member to two major exhibits, and an Aurora City Council appointment to the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission.
In her numerous roles, she has acquired a reputation for developing effective relationships within diverse communities. Wilde has been recognized by receiving such tributes as the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award, the Native American Resource Group Member Award, Rocky Mountain Legal Assistants Association Scholarship and by Governor’s Executive Order, she was appointed to the State Interagency Coordinating Council.
Wilde was raised by her divorced mother and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma with three brothers. She is a mother of an adult daughter and has three grandchildren. Upon high school graduation, she attended Haskell Indian Junior College and later achieved her undergraduate degree from Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah Oklahoma. In addition, she has completed a paralegal certificate at Aurora Community College.
