Karen Wilkins-Mickey

Karen Wilkins-Mickey (she/her) joined the Seahawks in January 2021 and brings over 20 years of DEI leadership experience to the team. In her role, Karen leads the Seahawks’ overall DEI strategy, and acts as a liaison for the team, its senior management group, players and the community to drive strategic DEI initiatives and programs. She also oversees the team’s internal DEI Council, represents the team for NFL social justice initiatives, and acts as an internal consultant to department leaders across the team’s football and business operations to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion are part of the decision-making process throughout the organization.

Prior to the Seahawks, Karen was Director of Diversity & Inclusion for Alaska Airlines, and has previously held diversity and inclusion leadership roles within Expedia Group and Microsoft. She is an alumni of the first McKinsey Black Executive Leadership Program and is a founding member of the DEI Community of Practice, which is a growing network of professionals committed to establishing and enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion practices within Seattle-area organizations. She recently joined the Board of Special Olympics of Washington and the NW African American Museum. She was honored in 2018 by the Seattle Mariners as part of African American Heritage Day, where she was recognized for her contributions to the Northwest community. She is also a Certified Diversity Recruiter as well as recently earning her certification in DEI through E-Cornell.

A native of New York City, Karen has a bachelor’s degree in communications from California State University-Chico. She lives in Bothell, Wash. with her husband Korey. The couple has two children, Kyra, a sophomore at Arizona State University, studying Sports Business, and Kaden, a high school senior.