Meet Goodwill’s CEO Karla Grazier 

Karla Grazier became president and CEO of Goodwill Industries in August 2010.  She began her career as a corporate banker in San Francisco and later headed the Middle Market Leverage Buyout Group at Wells Fargo Bank in New York City.  Moving to the Corporate Finance Group of Touche Ross, a former Big Eight accounting firm, Karla worked on valuations and prepared audit clients of the firm for initial public offerings.  Concurrent with her financial career, she taught for eight years as an adjunct lecturer in the graduate programs of Yale University and New York University.

In 1987, Karla began a second career as an entrepreneur, steering a start-up company in the snack food industry to a public offering in 1992.  Moving to Colorado Springs in 1996, she purchased and co-managed two catalog companies that later sold to larger companies in other parts of the U.S.

In addition to her role as CEO of Goodwill, Karla is currently CEO of K & W Enterprises, Inc., a diversified investment company.  She is a member of the board of trustees of the Colorado Springs School and a past member of the National Advisory Council of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  She is lead independent director and audit committee chair for the board of directors of 5Star Bank.  Karla also serves on the board of Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families.

Her education includes a BA from the University of Notre Dame, and an MBA from Indiana University.