Karen Aguirre is a health administrator, policy advocate, and a youth civic engagement mentor interested in promoting health reparations within communities of color who have been marginalized by structural violence. She currently serves as a program manager for NowPow and previously oversaw the implementation of healthcare and educational programming at West Side United, a multi-hospital collaborative that focuses on decreasing the 16-year life expectancy gap between Chicago’s downtown area and Chicago’s West Side communities.

In 2018, Karen sought ways to empower and train highly motivated young leaders from ages 18-25 to create positive change in their own neighborhoods through the Obama Foundation. carries a breath of experience in health research and managed multiple research studies related to health disparities in Chicago.

Karen holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she was a Schweitzer fellow. She received a Bachelor in Health Administration from Loyola University Chicago and is the recipient of various honors for her work including Loyola University’s Set the World on Fire Award, the UIC School of Public Health Rising Star award and the 35 under 35 award from the Chicago Scholars Foundation.