Karen Howard is a retired attorney and former Chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Commissioner Howard spent most of her childhood in the Bahamas before returning to the US for boarding school. She went on to obtain a BA in English from Georgetown University and an LLB (Law) from the University of Buckingham in the UK. Commissioner Howard was called to the Bar of England and Wales and The Bar of The Bahamas in 1992. She and her family moved to Chatham County, North Carolina in 2007. After serving one term on the Chatham County Board of Education, Howard was elected to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners in 2014. In addition to her role as Commissioner, she serves on the boards of The National Inclusion Project, Triangle West Transportation Planning Organization, the Governors Crime Commission, the Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees and is the Governors appointee to the Oil and Gas Commission. Early in her tenure, Commissioner Howard was instrumental in the work to pass a moratorium against fracking in Chatham while the County developed ordinances to address the very real risks of those activities in her community. She was part of the board that adopted county-wide zoning in 2016 and created the 2017 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which guides development and balances respect for the current and future needs of residents with strong consideration for the abundant but vulnerable natural resources of the County. Commissioner Howard is also a mother, grandmother, watercolor artist and poet.