Karen Kwok, FNP-BC, MPH

Service Background: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Specialist

Karen is an advocate, educator, and collaborator in public health and family nursing.  With over 20 years committed to patient health advocacy in resilient communities, she serves as an appointed DC Commissioner for Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and a Nurse Practitioner in the local DC, MD, and VA community.

In a 2016 midcareer decision, Karen fulfilled her lifelong dream to join Peace Corps Response Zambia’s Saving Mothers Giving Lives (SMGL) program in collaboration with CDC, PEPFAR, and USAID.  She continues to consult for a variety of organizations.  Her contributions to global health initiatives include capacity development, strategic planning, and program evaluation with Ministries of Health spanning Latin America, Central and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Because of her enthusiasm for civic participation, she joined the 2019 New Politics Leadership Academy, Answering the Call cohort to explore opportunities for engaging in the political process. With this civic focus, she also received leadership fellowships with Hands on Bay Area, National Urban Fellows, Young Government Leaders, Federal Asian Pacific American Council, and America Indivisible. 

In global and US settings, Karen shares a broad vision of providing clinical services for communities of color, developing the diverse public health leadership pipeline, and passion for health equity. Her areas of scholarship include improving access to primary health care and community-based partnership development with recognition from American Nurses Credentialing Center, Robert Wood Johnson, Bill and Melinda Gates Institute, California Governor Gray Davis, President Obama, and Fulbright Specialist for her service.