Karen Nozik

Washington, D.C., USA

Email: karennozik{at}gmail.com

Karen Nozik recently served as the Director of Ally Development and Partnerships at the National Parks Conservation Association. She is also the founder of Eco-Writer, LLC a commercial freelance writing company. Her professional mission is to improve the world one exquisite word at a time.

Until 2005, Ms. Nozik served as Communications Director for Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), an international leader in green development, energy efficiency, and sustainable use of natural resources. RMI's clients included: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stonyfield Farm, The Joyce Foundation, The Education Foundation of America, The Hewlett Foundation, Texas Instruments, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, among others.

During her tenure as RMI’s Communications Director, Ms. Nozik helped to fund, publish, and promote CEO Amory Lovins’ book, “Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security,” which encourages the United States to wean itself off oil.

Prior to RMI, Ms. Nozik served for three years as Director of Outreach for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization in Washington, DC, working with communities to preserve and transform unused rail corridors into trails. In that capacity, she directed a nationwide effort to identify, develop, and maintain strategic partnerships with public health, smart growth organizations, and federal, state, and local governments to promote the benefits of trails and greenways, and to ensure media coverage. The scope of her work included writing, editing, marketing, positioning, publication development and management, strategic planning and facilitation, fundraising, on-site technical assistance, government and community relations, staffing, and conference and event planning.

Before joining Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Ms. Nozik was the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Bicycle Federation of America in Washington, DC, a national non-profit advocacy organization. Nozik served as a primary liaison between the bicycle industry, national advocacy organizations, local grassroots groups, schools, and the media during the reauthorization of the 1996 federal transportation bill, ISTEA. She was part of the committee to launch the Partnership for a Walkable America, a coalition of health, safety, government, business, and transportation organizations advocating building physically active communities.

Nozik’s background and experience cover almost every area of writing, editing, communications, and fundraising with special expertise in environmental issues.  Ms. Nozik was the Communications Manager for The National Office Paper Recycling Project at the United States Conference of Mayors, an environmental public-private partnership formed to jumpstart the paper recycling industry. She began her career in the advertising industry, working for Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising and McCann Erickson in New York.

As an undergraduate, she studied journalism and public relations at the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, and received a Masters degree in Natural Resources Management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in 1992. Her production experience includes positions at KSNO radio in Aspen, Colorado and the NBC affiliate, Channel 8, in Rochester, NY.

Over the years, Karen has developed, written, edited, and produced a variety of magazine and newspaper articles, publications, annual reports, web site copy, videos, speeches, funding proposals, RFPs, grant applications, appeal letters, newsletters, workshops, and conferences.