Karen Alexander, PhD, is Founder and Director of XRconnectED, which provides
strategy, thought leadership, immersive media production, and equitable opportunities
in the implementation and development of XR technologies. This includes working with
community-based out-of-school programs to introduce children, youth, and adults to
create using XR technologies; consulting in the healthcare and manufacturing spaces;
and producing 360-degree videos. Karen’s professional background is in higher
education; she was previously Dean of Junior and Senior Year Programs at Douglass
Residential College, the women’s college at Rutgers University, where she managed
global learning opportunities, career development, community engagement, and
leadership. She earned her PhD in literature from the University of London, and she
holds master’s degrees in Philosophy and Issues in Modern Culture. Karen is co-
president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the VR/AR Association, of which she has been a
member since 2016. One of Karen’s core beliefs is that the purpose of technology is to
empower people.