Karen Brown is the President of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO). With her August 20, 2021, election win, she became the first Black President to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Ontario, and the first known Black President to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Canada. Karen previously served as ETFO First Vice-President from 2015 to 2021. She was first elected to the union's provincial Executive in 2009.

Karen's activism goes beyond the labour movement with entrenched roots in the community. She is the founder and Past President of Single Mothers Inspiring Leadership in Education (SMILE) providing support to single mothers engaged in educational pursuits. As a teacher, Karen saw firsthand the inequities that exist in our social system. Moved by what she saw, she took steps to offset the detrimental impacts of food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, and how precarious work affects children living in poverty. In doing so, Karen took the fight for justice and inclusion beyond the classroom and into the community.