Archives West Finding Aid

Karen Shepherd was born in Silver City, New Mexico, on July 5, 1940, to LaVerna and Ralph Felker. Her father worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, a job that required the family to move frequently; as a result, Karen was educated in a variety of schools in small towns in Utah. Shepherd received a B.A. in English from the University of Utah in 1962 and was awarded an M.A. in British Literature at Brigham Young University the following year. In 1963, Karen Felker married Vincent Shepherd; together, the couple had two children.

Shepherd taught high school and college English in Utah, in Washington, and at the American University of Cairo. In 1974, Shepherd served as Utah County coordinator for the Wayne Owens for Senate Campaign. She was affiliated with the Salt Lake County Division of Social Services in the mid-1970s, serving first as assistant to the director and then as director. In 1978, Shepherd became director of continuing education for Westminster College. That year also saw the debut of Network Magazine ; this publication, co-owned by Shepherd, was designed for women moving away from traditional home-centered roles into the workplace. Soon after, Shepherd founded a publishing house, Webster Publishing. She was editor of Network Magazine; and president of Webster Publishing for ten years.

In 1988, Shepherd sold her business and magazine to become Director of Development and Community Relations for the Graduate School of Business and College of Business at the University of Utah. In 1990, Shepherd was elected to the Utah State Senate, replacing Frances Farley, the only woman serving in the state senate at that time. Two years later, the Democratic incumbent for the 2nd district, United States Representative Wayne Owens, announced that he would be running for the United States Senate. Shepherd announced she would run for his seat, and in 1992 she defeated Republican Enid Greene for the 2nd district congressional seat on a platform that stressed children's issues, fiscal responsibility, deficit reduction, and congressional reform. In Congress, Shepherd served on the Natural Resources and the Public Works and Transportation Committees. With Eric Fingerhut, she worked on legislation for campaign finance and lobbying reform. Shepherd supported the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons Ban, as well as President Bill Clinton’s 1993 Budget, which passed by only one vote. During her reelection campaign, the last issue became a point of criticism from her opponent, Enid Greene Waldholtz; in 1994, Waldhotz defeated Shepherd.

After leaving Congress, Shepherd taught at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. After serving as an election monitor on the West Bank and Gaza, she joined former President Jimmy Carter and an international delegation in monitoring the January 1996 election in that area. In 1996, President Clinton appointed Shepherd as United States Executive Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1996, a position that she held until 2002. Since returning to the United States in 2002, Shepherd worked for Emily’s List, served on the national Planned Parenthood Action Council, and in Utah served on the boards for the Wasatch Homeless Health Care and the University of Utah’s Humanities Partnership and the David Eccles School of Business.