Why Words Matter: Inclusive Language & DE&I

Dr. Karen Lindsey is a teacher, scholar, mentor, and leadership consultant. She currently serves an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communications at Elon University in North Carolina. She also maintains an active consulting practice as owner of Lindsey Consulting Group where she advises university presidents, corporate executives, non-profit boards on internal/external strategic communication practices, and conducts workshops on inclusive leadership. Before moving to North Carolina in 2021, she was a visiting lecturer at Texas Christian University where she taught public relations, strategic writing, diversity, and campaigns courses. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dr. Lindsey has 20+ years of combined corporate communications, higher education, media relations, and marketing experience. Prior to teaching, she was a Vice President in the Dallas, Texas office of Edelman. In this role, she led teams that provided brand management strategies to clients in New York, Washington D.C., Austin, Houston, Dallas and China. She held media relations and marketing positions with Northwestern Mutual, the Chicago Tribune, U.S. Bank, and Wisconsin Gas. Dr. Lindsey also served as a leadership communications consultant to the U.S. Army and U.S. Department of Defense.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in applied communications from Mississippi College. She has a PhD from Azusa Pacific University with a focus on organizational leadership.