Karen Gallardo

Sr. Director, Major Gifts and Planned Giving

Karen Gallardo, CFRE, CAP, brings 24 years of fundraising experience to her work helping nonprofits raise more money. She enjoys connecting donors to programs and assisting them in making larger gifts than they dreamed possible. She also enjoys documenting those positive gift experiences and writing donor profiles.

Karen joined Best Friends as director of planned giving in January 2015. She leads a team that raises more than $30 million annually. From 2008 to 2014, Karen served as director of gift planning and major gifts for the AARP Foundation. She also worked at the Aspen Institute and spent more than 14 years at the Nature Conservancy in leadership positions in gift planning, corporate fundraising, cause-related marketing, membership and South American conservation.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and communications from the University of New Mexico and a master's in business administration from the George Washington University.

She resides in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and their two furry best friends, Bogey and Mulligan.