As Project Director of the Leadership Initiative, formerly the California School Leadership Academy, Karen Kearney directs all aspects of the initiative, including curriculum and training development for the administrator and teacher leader program, regional delivery of the program from 12 centers, and partnerships with other state and national initiatives that focus on the role of the principal, superintendent, and teacher leaders in comprehensive school restructuring.

Kearney was a member of the team that developed the basic plan for CSLA, which has trained more than 15,000 school leaders in California. She has spread the work nationally to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; and internationally to the Department of Defense and International Schools, and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Kuwait. An advisory board member for the Chicago Academy of School Leadership and the Australian Principals' Centre, Kearney has written and coauthored numerous training programs for school leaders and facilitators. She is a former high school teacher, middle school department chair, administrator, and an elementary school principal.

Kearney received a BA in English and an MA in curriculum and instruction from San Diego State University. She also has a California administrator credential and K-8 and 7-12 teaching credentials.