Giving Back

Join In Celebrating…Karina is a 40 Under 40 Honoree!

Karina and Spencer at the 40 under 40 Celebration.

Please join in celebrating with us: Karina is one of Northern Colorado’s 40 Under 40 this year! Hosted by BizWest, the event “celebrates young professionals shaping the future of Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado who are making a mark on their communities through professional success and volunteer activities”.

Founding and owning ConverSketch has been a core piece of who I am, and running a business that gives back to the community has always been part of my core values. That’s why I choose to give back in a variety of ways:

  • Prioritizing work with organizations and teams that align with my values.

  • Donating a portion of my proceeds each year to organizations that are working in conservation, climate resilience, and supporting women and girls in business and education.

  • Offering a limited number of scholarships for discounted graphic recording each year.

  • Volunteering supporting women in rural Kenya: I have been a co-leader for service-learning program through Colorado State University taking students to Samburu, Kenya, since 2013.

Thank you all for being my co-collaborators and, truly, for being the reason I get to do this work! And a special thank you to Rebecca Everette, who nominated me for this award. You are an inspiration and lift up the women in your life!

Thank you for your collaboration, humor, and what you do to make the world a better place.

Cheers,



Where in the World is ConverSketch?

It’s been a busy year! Here are select highlights from this summer to give a peek into what I’ve been up to. I’ll be sharing a new video series soon as well! Stay tuned.

Wisconsin, Texas, and Michigan: Hosting a series of workshops for the National Parks Conservation Association focused on building connections and place-specific strategies to support visitors to Parks in electric vehicles.

Workshop participants in Munising, Michigan discuss how to support EV infrastructure in their community and park.

West Virginia: Graphic recording with the US Fish and Wildlife Service ePermits program as they built connections and a shared understanding of how to more effectively modernize the permit process. We also created an illustrated video together earlier this year.

Permit process modernization with fish and wildlife is always a good excuse to draw animals.

The wall of visuals extended behind and in front of participants as the week progressed!

Aspen: At the annual Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum discussing the leading edge on AI policy, safety and moderation, antitrust, and broadband.

Denver and Fort Collins: Apoyando el trabajo de La Cocina, un organización escuchando de la comunidad sobre desarollando un app sobre la salúd mental.

Supporting the work of La Cocina as they learned from the community what they’d like to see in a mental health app for the Latine community. Sessions were in Spanish and English and I translated key ideas to English for the summary illustrations to be used in future grant writing.

Mwaka Mpya - Happy New Year in Swahili!

Happy New Year!

We’re in Samburu, Kenya co-leading a service learning trip for students at Colorado State University until January 14th with extremely limited internet and no phone access (hallelujah for disconnecting…and scheduled emails!).

This trip is possible because of the phenomenal organizations we partner with, and I am blown away by the tenacity, resourcefulness, and enormous hearts that make them what they are.

Unity Women’s Village – Established in 2011, Unity Village is a collective of women and their families who make and sell traditional beaded jewelry and provide an immersive tourism experience for visitors. Most of these women left abusive or arranged marriages with the goal to create a safe environment and make independent income to send their children to school. Read their stories and find out how you can visit here.

unity-womens-village-samburu-kenya-conversketch

The Samburu Youth Education Fund (SYEF) – A non-profit organization with a mission to provide equitable opportunities for Samburu youth to enhance their leadership development and problem-solving skills through educational scholarships and civic involvement opportunities. I am proud to be a Board Member of this organization — find out how when you work with ConverSketch you’re supporting women’s rights and education!

Students from Colorado State University and recent high school graduates share advice for success to new scholarship recipients to help them as they begin as freshmen.

Students from Colorado State University and recent high school graduates share advice for success to new scholarship recipients to help them as they begin as freshmen.

And, if you’re curious what our students are doing and thinking about on this service learning trip (or are in need of some fodder for procrastination), here’s the link to the blog they have been posting to somewhat regularly to share our activities and adventures.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina