Karen Gerrity

Karen Gerrity serves as a Lecturer at the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, leveraging over 35 years of professional experience in nonprofit and government management. Her career includes high-impact leadership roles in municipal crisis response and cultural affairs administration across Colorado communities.

Education:

• MS in Cultural Foundations of Education, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Research and Professional Focus: Gerrity specializes in practical applications of public administration through emergency management systems, nonprofit governance, and interagency coordination. Her expertise bridges theoretical frameworks with real-world crisis response scenarios involving natural disasters, public health emergencies, and community resilience planning. Her teaching emphasizes operational leadership in local government contexts and cross-jurisdictional collaboration with federal/state agencies.

Professional Collaborations: During her tenure as Town Administrator of Nederland, she coordinated responses with the Boulder County Office of Disaster Management, Boulder County Public Health Department, Colorado Resiliency Office, Boulder County Bomb Squad, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation during concurrent crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, historic wildfires, and a residential explosion.

Additional Experience: Former Cultural Affairs Manager for the City and County of Broomfield and Deputy Director of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (a seven-county special tax district). Founding business manager for Boulder Country Day School, a private nonprofit institution, where she served for 13 years.