Karen Gordon

Karen Gordon, née Karen Villeneuve, is a Canadian-American philanthropist and social entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Whole Child International, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to improve the quality of care for vulnerable children in childcare institutions and orphanages worldwide.

Gordon was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the oldest of three children. Her father’s job as a national parks administrator took the family to twenty-three homes and ten schools throughout her childhood; Gordon has credited this experience as the foundation for her interest in helping children without a stable home. After a career in modeling she married the American film producer Mark Gordon in 1997; they have two daughters together. The couple divorced in 2003.

While attending a parenting class in Los Angeles, Gordon was introduced to the dynamic child-rearing approach of Emmi Pikler (1902–1984), a Hungarian pediatrician and child development expert who established the Pikler Institute in Budapest for children orphaned during World War II. After personally visiting the Institute, Gordon was motivated to found the nonprofit Whole Child International in 2004. She sought to target the early development needs of vulnerable children in institutions using methodology developed by Pikler.

In 2006, Whole Child began working with the Government of Nicaragua to train caregivers at the El Diviño Niño children’s home in Managua. Since then Whole Child has implemented eight institutional interventions with the governments of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Whole Child programs are currently being brought to scale with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, TACA Airlines, and SISEL International under their 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, which was announced at CGI’s Annual Meeting on September 24, 2009.

Gordon is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Clinton Global Initiative. She currently lives in Santa Monica, California.

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