Karen Sullivan Ed.D.

Dr. Karen Sullivan served as Indian Prairie District 204's superintendent from 2014 until her retirement in June of 2020. At the time Indian Prairie was the fourth largest school district in the state of Illinois, serving 28,500 students in 33 schools in Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook, and Plainfield.

During Dr. Sullivan’s tenure Indian Prairie has continued its long-standing work on equity of access and opportunity for all students with the creation of the Executive Director for Educational Equity position which guided the district’s efforts in cultural diversity, equity and respect. Other initiatives included participation in Equal Opportunity Schools which served to increase the number of underrepresented students in honors and Advanced Placement courses, increasing early education opportunities for low income and underrepresented students, district wide professional learning in the areas of culturally relevant practices and implicit bias, and efforts to close disproportionality in discipline and out of school suspensions.

As Superintendent, Dr. Sullivan also oversaw the launch of numerous STEM and technology initiatives including the largest 1:1 initiative in the state at the time and the opening of the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School, a collaborative venture with three other school districts and Aurora University. In 2015, Indian Prairie District 204 was selected by the U.S. Department of Education’s Future Ready Initiative as one of eight districts across the country to highlight the role leaders play in leveraging technology to create transformational learning environments. In 2018, Indian Prairie received a three-year National Science Foundation grant in collaboration with two other districts and Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools to develop a PreK-12 computational thinking pathway for schools.

Dr. Sullivan has served in a variety of roles in her career including Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Principal, and Director of Student Services and Special Education. She has received numerous awards in her career including being named a 2020 Superintendent of Distinction by the Illinois Association of School Administrators.

Since retirement, Dr. Karen Sullivan has worked for the DuPage Regional Office of Education. This regional office serves 42 school districts in the suburban Chicago area. Dr. Sullivan’s primary role is to serve as the liaison and support for district superintendents and facilitate the provision of professional learning opportunities for school leaders in the region. A current project involves providing coaching on central office transformation to several school districts in order for them to better support Principals. In addition, Dr. Sullivan serves as an Associate for Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates and specializes in Superintendent and Cabinet level executive searches. Dr. Sullivan has recently served as an Ambassador Fellow for the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools and a Senior Consultant for AASA’s Learning 2025 initiative.

Dr. Sullivan earned both her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her doctoral degree from Lewis University where her dissertation focused on White principal’s perceptions of their ability to do social justice work in their schools.