Karen Horting, CAE

Karen Horting, CAE, is the executive director and CEO for the Society of Women Engineers, a position she has held since Dec. 31, 2013. With more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and fund development, Horting was most recently the SWE deputy executive director. In this capacity, she was responsible for all fund development activities for the organization, including corporate membership and SWE’s Corporate Partnership Council and more traditional philanthropy such as foundation and government grants, individual gifts, and bequests.

She also oversaw many of the Society’s programs and services, including professional development, K-12 outreach, the annual conference, and SWE’s international expansion. Horting came to SWE in March 2004 from the New York Academy of Sciences, where she served as director of strategic planning, managing the academy’s development activities and long-range organizational planning.

Before her role with NYAS, Horting worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, managing both marketing and fund development on a global level for Science’s Next Wave, a groundbreaking career-development website for graduate students and postdocs in science, math, and technology. Horting’s experience also includes more than 10 years in the paint industry in various technical service and marketing functions. In 2008, Horting earned her Certified Association Executive credential from the CAE Commission of the American Society of Association Executives. Horting holds a B.S. in biology from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

She currently serves on the FIRST Robotics Board of Directors, the STEM Ed Coalition Board of Directors, and the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board (DAAB). In 2019 she was awarded the Inspiring Leader Award from the Association Forum. And in 2024 she was named to Forbes 50 Over 50 list.

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