Kara Adams is Director of Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships at the University of Washington Bothell, where she provides campus-wide leadership to strengthen institutional infrastructure for community engagement. She has led the university through two Carnegie Community Engagement Classification application processes and plays an active role at the tri-campus level, supporting system-wide efforts to build shared infrastructure, tools, and policies that advance effective community engagement across the University of Washington’s Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses. Previously, she directed the Office of Connected Learning and the Office of Community-Engaged Learning and Research, where she supported faculty development through fellowships, workshops, and consultation.

Kara holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Willamette University and an M.Ed. in Student Development Administration from Seattle University. She lives in Shoreline, Washington, and can be found gardening with her two young kids.