Karen Airola

Karen is a quirky, passionately curious woman who sees the good in every human. Her work strives to empower others to fulfill their unique purpose in this world.

The throughline of her work is built upon Luke 12:48- “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” As well as being very aware that the purpose of influence is to speak up for those who cannot.

Karen grew up in a small town in California. After receiving her business degree, she worked in many roles all focusing on business development and expanding into new markets.

Karen joined Plug and Play as employee number 4 on our Insurtech team and number 40 overall. She helped grow the programs to 30 locations, 600+ employees, 400 corporate partners, and a network of over 20k startups. She then spearheaded Plug and Play’s expansion into Africa. She left Plug and Play to continue pursuing how innovation can impact the bottom 40% of society and is advising startups, innovation hubs, and corporates throughout Africa.

She is the Hon. Global Director- Strategic Partnership, SDGs Global Impact Startups, GCPIT