Karen A. Tramontano is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Blue Star Strategies, LLC where she provides corporate, institutional, and public sector clients with results oriented strategies.

From 1997 to 2001, Karen served in the White House as deputy chief of staff to President William Jefferson Clinton and counselor to Erskine Bowles and John Podesta. Her portfolio encompassed a wide range of issues, including international trade and transatlantic relations as well as economic and financial issues concerning the World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. Karen later served as chief of staff for President Clinton’s transition, where she established his office and presence in New York City. Before her tenure at the White House, Karen served as chief of staff to mayor of the District of Columbia Sharon Pratt, chief of staff to Service Employees International Union presidents John Sweeney and Andy Stern, and counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Karen is also Founder and President of the Global Fairness Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to promote a more equitable and sustainable approach to globalization.

Karen earned a J. D. degree from Catholic University Law School and a B.A. from Boston College. An aging triathlete, she holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.