Karen Spitzfaden

As a Director on the Consulting team, Karen works with clients to grow their businesses by putting consumers at the center of decision-making. Karen is part of the Research & Insights and Customer Strategy practice areas, has developed Ovative’s proprietary approach to customer segmentation, advises on market, industry, and consumer trends and shifts, and has helped many clients develop actionable customer strategies.

Prior to joining Ovative in 2021, Karen created and implemented people-centric strategies in multiple sectors: at General Mills, in MN state government, and at nonprofit organizations. She holds a BA from Rice University and an MBA and MPP from the University of Minnesota, and she believes that understanding people and their motivations is imperative for sustainable growth in all sectors.

Karen lives in Minneapolis, and when she’s not working, she enjoys spending time outside and would always rather be reading a book in a hammock. She is passionate about community engagement and political advocacy and volunteers as a counselor at Experience Camps, a summer camp for young people whose parent or sibling has died.