We are excited to introduce Karen Lampert, GPC, Grant Manager for the City of Murfreesboro, as a new member of our Community Action Council! Karen brings over 25 years of dedicated public service experience from both the nonprofit and government sectors.
Before joining the City of Murfreesboro in 2019, Karen held various leadership and management roles in the nonprofit sector. There, she championed causes such as girls’ empowerment, literacy, youth substance abuse prevention, health and fitness, and victim services. As the Grant Manager for Murfreesboro, Karen provides invaluable grant writing and development support to all City Departments. Her efforts have secured over $5 million in funding, significantly benefiting Murfreesboro residents. In 2024, Karen earned her credentialed grant professional designation, further solidifying her expertise. She is an active member of the Grants Professionals Association and serves on the Grant Professionals Foundation Board of Directors. Karen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Arts from Tennessee Technological University. Outside of her professional life, Karen enjoys traveling, camping, reading, and spending time with her family.
Karen was inspired to join Tennessee Nonprofit Network’s Community Action Council for two reasons: her appreciation for the hard work Tennessee Nonprofit Network is doing across the state to support and advocate for the nonprofit sector, and her strong passion for nonprofits and the critical work they do. She believes that now, more than ever, nonprofits need our voices and support.
For Karen, the nonprofit sector embodies resiliency. She views them as fighters who have faced numerous adversities, especially over the past five years, yet continue to advocate for those they serve.
During her time with Tennessee Nonprofit Network, Karen hopes to see the organization succeed in growing its membership and expanding its connections to the nonprofit sector across the state.
Karen is a mom to four adult children, two of whom are her bonus children. They reside in Murfreesboro, Cookeville, Nashville, and Seattle, WA. She also has an amazing 10-year-old grandson who brings a lot of fun into her life. Two dogs and a cat also share their home.
As Grant Manager for the City of Murfreesboro, Karen’s primary responsibility is grant development. She enjoys finding and writing grants to support work that benefits the community, working across departments, and learning the inner workings of how critical services are delivered. She has written grants on diverse topics, including solid waste management, public safety, tree canopy preservation, and playground development.
An avid reader of fiction, with historical fiction, thrillers, and mysteries being her favorite genres, Karen also includes non-fiction to broaden her perspective. Last year, she read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, finding it an excellent book for anyone struggling to form good habits or overcome bad ones. She keeps a quote from the book, “Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins,” taped to her computer screen.
Karen has witnessed Murfreesboro transform from a commuter community to a strong, independent community with quality-of-life amenities that allow residents to live, play, and work without needing to travel to Nashville for everything. Additionally, Murfreesboro’s central geographic location in the state provides a great travel radius to amazing attractions within a couple of hours’ drive.
Her all-time favorite movie is “Dirty Dancing.” She loves the dancing, iconic performances, the culture, the romance, the music, and the nuances of life portrayed in the film.
Karen enjoys visiting Sewanee on Mount Eagle, admiring the quaint buildings on the University of the South’s campus, and finds the view from the War Memorial Cross breathtaking.
Karen enjoys being creative. She took a metal smithing class and briefly sold her copper jewelry. She also enjoys crocheting and experimenting with watercolors in a more abstract style.
Karen loves traveling, with Alaska and the New England Coast on her domestic bucket list, and Iceland, Ireland, and Italy on her overseas list. She enjoys experiencing how other people live.
Her advice to someone starting in the nonprofit sector is that their work matters. She reminds them to prioritize self-care, advocate for living wages, and take pride in their work. She also stresses the importance of planning for retirement, noting that she worked many years in jobs without retirement benefits and now wishes she had planned earlier.
Outside of her professional work, Karen is particularly passionate about domestic violence and sexual assault awareness. She believes these are still “closet” issues that protect perpetrators, emphasizing the need for open discussion, understanding, non-judgmental attitudes, and educating youth to break the cycle.