Karen Kemerling

Karen Kemerling, Ph.D., is an accomplished Agile and Leadership Coach, consultant, and educator with a distinguished career spanning engineering, executive leadership, and organizational transformation. Her journey from CIO to enterprise coach gives her a rare perspective on the evolving needs of modern leaders.

She is the founder of K2 Leadership & Performance, where she integrates Agile principles, systems thinking, and neuroscience-based methods to guide individuals, teams, and organizations through sustainable change. Karen’s expertise lies in fostering psychologically safe cultures, enhancing leadership agility, and enabling growth-oriented mindsets.

Karen holds a Ph.D. in Management and Organizational Development, with a dissertation focused on remote team productivity. She is a Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC), Neuroscience-Based Brain Coach, Leadership Agility 360 Coach, and Certified Psychological Safety Trainer and Practitioner. These credentials underpin her work in helping leaders navigate complexity while cultivating inclusive, trust-based environments.

Recognized for her impact, Karen was nominated CIO of the Year by the Denver Business Journal in 2011 and voted one of Denver’s Top 3 Businesswomen in 2015. She currently serves on the Generation Schools Network Board, supporting emotional and social learning in Colorado K-12 schools.

Karen lives in Golden, Colorado, with her spouse and their German Shepherd. Outside of coaching, she is an avid skier, golfer, and mountain biker—and a luthier, crafting handmade acoustic guitars under the name K2 Guitars.