Sweet Readers, Inc. | Founder & Executive Director | New York NY
Karen Young was the founder and President of an educational board game company, TLI Games, which she developed and ran for 20 yrs. before starting Sweet Readers, Inc. At TLI Games, Ms. Young managed a team of writers, spearheaded manufacturing, strategic planning, marketing & promotions, worldwide distribution, special events and engaging and interfacing with over 49 corporate sponsors. TLI's award winning games, sold worldwide at outlets including: Amazon.com, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and QVC, have garnered numerous industry awards and significant media recognition. The New York Times called Ms. Young a "Gamemaker with Unsinkable Spirit".
Prior to her work at TLI Games, Ms. Young was a Vice President and commercial real estate broker in Manhattan at Cross & Brown Company and Peter R. Friedman, Ltd. where she was responsible for managing and leasing major office buildings including 200 Park Avenue (The Metropolitan Life Building), 551 Fifth Avenue (The Fred F. French Building) and 110 East 42nd Street (The Bowery Savings Bank Building).
Ms. Young has over 35 years of service experience including being Service Vice President at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York; her work with disabled children at the renowned Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, NY; placing her on their permanent honor role; serving as co-chair of the alumni fund phonathon and being its top fundraiser for Lafayette College; serving in the Department of Commerce's Office of Business Liaison in Washington, D.C; The White House Office of Public Liaison during the Reagan Administration; being co-chair of the Toy Manufacturers of America's Toy Bank and responsible for bringing in millions of dollars in toy donations for charity from her peers; and being co-chair of community service for the Parents Association at The Spence School in Manhattan where she spearheaded the rebuilding of playgrounds for a Katrina Ravaged school in Mississippi.
Ms. Young is a frequent speaker on business and entrepreneurial subjects and has been featured at NYU's Stern School of Business; international Business Machines (IBM)'s Marketing Conference; American Express's Panel on Women in Business; Lafayette College where she guest taught classes on marketing and entrepreneurial studies and was a featured panelist; at the New School in New York, etc. Ms. Young has been featured on CNBC, CNN, Good Morning American, New York 1 News, in The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine and The New Yorker. Sm. Young was also a guest host on QVC.
Ms. Young is the mother of a middle school aged child and the daughter of a mother with early stage Alzheimer's Disease. That coupled with her work with TLI Games, has given Ms. Young vast experience working with kids and young adults, schools, museums and program directors at senior living facilties. Most important, her experiences have given Ms. Young a deep commitment to fostering compassion in our youth and advocating to protect and support our elders.
