Karinne is a double NIU alumna having received her bachelor’s in biology and her master’s in public administration. As the director of innovation, Karinne promotes strategic university-wide innovation relationships and entrepreneurship for students, staff, and faculty and the commercialization of their efforts.

Her responsibilities include oversight and development of partnerships internal to the University and externally with other academic institutions, industry, investors, non-profits, and government entities for the University’s 71 North Partnership Studio, the NIU Opportunity Zones, the Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability (NICCS), and the Northern Illinois Research Foundation (NIRF). In recent years, Karinne has been involved in facilitating innovative student programs like the IDEAL INDUSTRIES Intrapreneurship Program and Discover Campus Innovator Program and recently served as chair for the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation’s Target Industry subcommittee and Secretary to the NIRF Board of Directors.