Karen Sachs is Senior Vice President, Chief Culture, Inclusion & Diversity Officer at UnitedHealth Group. She is responsible for leading initiatives that advance the company’s culture in support of its mission and promoting an inclusive and diverse workforce. She also leads corporate social responsibility for Optum.

Karen has more than 30 years of experience in various human resources, consulting and diversity leadership roles. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Karen spent more than
20 years with Cargill, where she held several human resources roles that included partnering with the businesses, guiding talent teams, leading transformations and driving global inclusion and diversity.

Earlier in her career, Karen was a political campaign consultant and fundraiser at Springer Associates and a recruiting manager at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) based in Washington, D.C. She has traveled and worked extensively throughout North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe and is passionate about understanding and engaging with different people, cultures and perspectives.

Karen holds a degree in political science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She currently lives on a farm in Independence, Minnesota with her husband and their dog Buddy, along with several barn cats.