Biography

Dr. Karen Swoboda, Ed.D., is the director of the School of Education at Johnson & Wales University. She began her career as a high school social studies teacher, and then quickly returned to URI to earn a master’s in reading to better support her students’ content literacy skills. After 26 years in the classroom in Narragansett, in both middle and high school, Dr. Swoboda transitioned to school leadership via the Principal Residency Network in 2007. Later, she left K12 to become the Director of Teacher Education at JWU, where she worked tirelessly to provide high quality teacher education for JWU’s graduate students. Today, she has expanded her reach to direct the very program from which she graduated in 2015—JWU’s Educational Leadership doctoral program. Dr. Swoboda especially values her collaborative work with colleagues across RI, especially the CEEDAR work that has focused on partnerships and equity.