Educator/Trainer for the Prince George’s County, Maryland Hospital Coalition, a consortium of seven county hospitals and Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic Region.
A retired 13-year veteran of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, Karen began her career as a firefighter and was promoted through the ranks to Acting Fire Technician, Fire Lieutenant, and was only the fourth African-American female to hold the rank of Fire Captain. Some of her assignments included Recruiter, Staffing Officer, High School Cadet Program Coordinator, and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Special Operations. She also earned the Instructor’s Award for "Esprit de Corps". Prior to her fire service career, she worked as a mid-level manager in the cable television industry. She is the President of Black Women in the Fire Service (BWFS), an affiliation of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF), Miss January in the "Essence of Fire Female Firefighters 2007 Calendar" (www.essenceoffire.net), a member of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialist, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Ms. Wilcox earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1981. She served in the United States Marine Corps (Reserve), and was honorably discharged in 1987.
Some of her emergency management training includes Incident command/Unified Command, Community Risk Assessment, Incident Command System (ICS) 100 thru 800, Instructor I-III, Fire Inspector I, Hazardous Materials Operations, and Hospital Emergency Response Training (HERT) Train-the-Trainer. Currently, Ms. Wilcox is completing requirements to become a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)/Emergency Management Institute (EMI) certified ICS instructor, Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) designer, and pursuing a Master’s Degree.
An accomplished speaker, trainer, and fashion consultant, she works with both private and government entities that have an interest in professional and personal growth, emergency response, management and preparedness, as well as diversity, motivation, and women’s issues.
A native of Miami, Florida, and Maryland resident for the past 21 years, Ms. Wilcox is single.