Meet Karen Jefferson Morrison

Karen Morrison serves as a senior corporate officer in her roles as president of the OhioHealth Foundation and senior vice president of OhioHealth Corporation. She has been with OhioHealth for over thirty years serving as a health care executive and lobbyist currently leading the enterprise strategy for external relations including community relations, corporate reinvestment, community health and government affairs. She manages the local, state and federal advocacy strategy for the enterprise and is an experienced leader in health care public policy. In her role as the Foundation president, Ms. Morrison provides executive fundraising leadership to advance the philanthropic mission of the enterprise and she oversees all aspects of the Foundation’s strategic operations. Additionally, Ms. Morrison provided interim leadership as the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, overseeing ethics, compliance and internal audit for the enterprise.

OhioHealth is the parent company for fourteen hospitals, 200 ambulatory sites, a comprehensive home care provider, hospice, and rehabilitation services. The enterprise serves a fifty-county region and represents 30,000 employees. The corporation generates $6 billion in revenue and is consistently ranked as one of the top ten health systems in the country.

Ms. Morrison completed her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University, where she is a past member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; her graduate professional degree in Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health; and her law degree from Capital University, where she served two terms on its Board of Trustees.

In March 2022, she was elected as a director of Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF), where she serves on the audit committee. In 2021, she was elected as a director of Palmer-Donavin, a manufacturing company providing wholesale distribution of building supplies. In 2018, she was elected as a director of SafeAuto, a property and casualty auto insurance company, and served in that role until it was acquired by Allstate in 2021. Ms. Morrison is a founding director of Adelphi Bank, a minority depository institution, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, where she chairs the governance committee and serves on the audit committee. She also serves as a member of the Fifth Third Bank Advisory Board of Directors, Central Ohio; the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, chairing human resources and executive compensation, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, where she chairs the governance committee. In 2012, she was first appointed by Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman to serve on the Columbus Board of Health and is past chair. She was appointed by Governor John Kasich to the Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees, and chaired the finance, audit and nominating and governance committees.

Ms. Morrison is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and The Links, Incorporated, serving on its national executive council for three administrations. She is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, Women Corporate Directors and she was in the inaugural cohort of Deloitte’s Board Ready Women. Ms. Morrison was recognized as one of the “12 Women You Should Know” by Women for Economic and Leadership Development. Ms. Morrison was honored as a 2016 YWCA Woman of Achievement. Becker’s Hospital Review recognized Ms. Morrison as one of the “African American Leaders in Healthcare, 2019”. In May 2023, Ms. Morrison was recognized as an inaugural recipient of the Columbus Business First, Women of Influence Award as the “Businesswoman of the Year”.