Member since February 2026
Karen Pambianchi is a executive leadership coach, training and workshop facilitator, and strategic team coach and facilitator who holds an Associate Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation and an Advanced Certification in Team Coaching. Karen is known for creating individual learning opportunities and facilitating groups that yield high individual impact, high performing teams and powerful peer-to-peer connections. Naturally curious, Karen engages professionals to develop their leadership presence, communication skills, confidence and professional impact while honoring their life outside the office.
Leveraging her inherent skill of listening, collaborating, and problem-solving to develop programs that support the needs of her client, Karen is laser-focused on the impact of each program, whether a group as small as five or a fully curated day-long event for up to 1500 people. As a speaker, Karen is dynamic and engaging. Her main stage keynotes, and breakout sessions have been requested at industry conferences across New England, including IMFA, NEHRA, NEMA, NH NEA, NH Center for Non Profits, NAGGL and the Maine Women’s Conference.
Throughout her career in corporate and non-profit event planning, marketing, and fundraising and now coaching, Karen always focuses on building relationships, engaged listening, withholding judgment, and helping people develop self-awareness of their values and vision, and working with them to reach their individual and organizational goals. Karen has partnered with professionals from non-profit, healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, technology, financial services, education, architecture, construction, and legal industries, as well as consultants and entrepreneurs to leverage their strengths, collaborate and actively participate in creating an inclusive, productive, and positive work environment.
When she is not coaching or facilitating, Karen loves spending time with her husband and two children alpine skiing as a family and using their ski boat in her home state of Maine. She is the loudest one in the stands for her son's hockey, baseball, and football games and loves watching her daughter follow in her dance shoes, performing on stage.
The mental load we carry is often a greater challenge that what we experience at work or at home. I am passionate about helping my clients lighten their mental load so they enjoy their successes and problem solve with more clarity. The most common mental loads I work with clients to offload are, burnout, boundaries, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, work-life balance and integration, authentic communication, and value driven leadership.
In some ways, Karen's experience with coaching began when she hired her own life coach. It actually began many years before that while earning her Bachelor's degree from Providence College. As an undergraduate, Karen was trained as a resident assistant (RA) with an emphasis on active listening, support without judgment, and a resolution-focused approach to problem-solving. Along with being a dean’s list student, she was also a member of the Dance Team and Board of Programmers which pulled in her competing directions. Karen’s focus on her responsibilities, values, and time management skills allowed her to be successful in each aspect of her collegiate life and provided the foundation for her career as a coach.
As Karen’s career progressed through corporate and non-profit event planning, marketing, and fundraising, she always focused on building relationships and helping people self-identify their values and vision, and working with them to successfully reach their goals. After managing a committee of nearly 50 individuals while working at the American Diabetes Association, Karen built a volunteer committee of almost 25 individuals for her local community's Old Home Days event. Leading and facilitating volunteer committees requires engaged listening, a space free from judgment, and consistent and continued progress toward a goal. Whether leading a group within an organization, as a fellow volunteer, or now as an external advisor, Karen uses these key skills daily to support the success of clients and ensure participants feel included, heard, and able to achieve
the success they desire.
In 2015, Karen joined Southern New Hampshire University as a Learning Coach in an innovative program, College for America. In this role, Karen guided her students through the tricky balancing act of work-life-school harmony as full-time working professionals who chose to return to academia to earn an Associate degree. This work continues now at Swift Water Collaborative, LLC, the coaching and leadership development practice Karen founded to support busy professionals who want a successful career and thriving personal life without feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, guilty of not being or doing enough. She continues to develop her coaching practices through her membership with the ICF Professional Coaches and the ICF New England Chapter.
In some ways, Karen's experience with coaching began when she hired her own life coach. It actually began many years before that while earning her Bachelor's degree from Providence College. As an undergraduate, Karen was trained as a resident assistant (RA) with an emphasis on active listening, support without judgment, and a resolution-focused approach to problem-solving. Along with being a dean’s list student, she was also a member of the Dance Team and Board of Programmers which pulled in her competing directions. Karen’s focus on her responsibilities, values, and time management skills allowed her to be successful in each aspect of her collegiate life and provided the foundation for her career as a coach.
As Karen’s career progressed through corporate and non-profit event planning, marketing, and fundraising, she always focused on building relationships and helping people self-identify their values and vision, and working with them to successfully reach their goals. After managing a committee of nearly 50 individuals while working at the American Diabetes Association, Karen built a volunteer committee of almost 25 individuals for her local community's Old Home Days event. Leading and facilitating volunteer committees requires engaged listening, a space free from judgment, and consistent and continued progress toward a goal. Whether leading a group within an organization, as a fellow volunteer, or now as an external advisor, Karen uses these key skills daily to support the success of clients and ensure participants feel included, heard, and able to achieve
the success they desire.
In 2015, Karen joined Southern New Hampshire University as a Learning Coach in an innovative program, College for America. In this role, Karen guided her students through the tricky balancing act of work-life-school harmony as full-time working professionals who chose to return to academia to earn an Associate degree. This work continues now at Swift Water Collaborative, LLC, the coaching and leadership development practice Karen founded to support busy professionals who want a successful career and thriving personal life without feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, guilty of not being or doing enough. She continues to develop her coaching practices through her membership with the ICF Professional Coaches and the ICF New England Chapter.