Karen has served as a Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent with Virginia Cooperative Extension since 1987. Following the economic downturn in 2008, she launched the Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Program to help individuals and families learn to manage their finances effectively. Since the research shows that employee financial stress costs employers more than $5,000 annually per employee, she has aimed in recent years to provide financial education through local businesses. Partnerships with businesses such as H.N. Funkhouser, Thermo Fisher Scientific, American Woodmark, and others have helped employees improve their financial stability. Programs are free to the business and can provide benefits to the employer such as reduced turnover and absenteeism, improved worker productivity, and decreased costs of dealing with issues caused by employee financial insolvency.