Overview
Karen Vander Linde is a respected corporate executive and board director. She brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in business transformation, organizational restructuring, and change management with PwC, the largest professional services firm in the world. In addition to mentoring individual top leaders, she co-leads The ExCo Group’s team practice where she works with leadership teams and cohorts. She supports a wide range of clients, from those in the executive ranks of the Fortune 50 to mid-market leaders as well as startup entrepreneurs, across multiple industries.
"If you’re going to fight a war on all fronts, then you’re going to have added levels of complexity, no matter what organization you’re in... Without Karen being there to push me and prod me, I might have gotten to a point where I said, ‘This isn’t worth it.’ Our strategy is in flux, and we don’t always see eye-to-eye, and that can be difficult. But thanks in part to our conversations, I was able to think past the immediate churn to look at what I can contribute to the organization overall."
– Vice President - IP Development Group, Fortune 50 Technology Firm
Career History
In addition to her mentoring, Vander Linde is a partner and serves on the executive management committee of The ExCo Group, where she plays a strategic role in leading the business.
She served on PwC’s advisory global leadership team and led the U.S. and globally what is now the firm’s People & Organization business, which analysts have ranked as a Vanguard leader in the market. In the U.S., she built the business from two people to a thriving cross-industry practice in seven years. At the global level, she grew the practice from one that was too small to make the charts to a key service in PwC’s multibillion-dollar line of consulting services. As a result of her work, Consulting magazine recognized her as one of the Top 25 Consultants in 2008.
Throughout her career, Vander Linde has a track record of success working closely with top global executives to help leaders drive strategic transformation, reinvent their operations, and fully align and engage their people in new ways of doing business. Prior to PwC, she was a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and Creative Associates International.
Vander Linde is active in community development and currently serves on the board and executive committee of the Business Council for Peace (BPeace), a leading nonprofit organization that mentors and develops entrepreneurs in countries of conflict. She is also a board member for the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center. Previously, she held leadership roles on the boards of ATD, the world’s largest talent industry association, and Greater DC Cares.
Personal
Vander Linde has a B.A. in English and History from Kalamazoo College and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Illinois. She completed all but her dissertation for a doctorate in business administration and human resource development at George Washington University. She is married with four grown children.
