Karen Borgstrom

Karen Borgstrom is the Director of External Affairs at Dartmouth Health. External Affairs at Dartmouth Health collaborates with business, government, communities and the nonprofit sector to raise awareness about health and healthcare – locally, regionally and nationally.

Prior to joining Dartmouth Health, Karen was the vice president for Institutional Advancement at the University of New Hampshire, School of Law. As the development and communications leader there she helped ensure that UNH Law alumni and donors experienced the satisfaction of seeing their philanthropic investments make an impact across both the state and the globe.

In addition to her experience in development and communications, Karen is an attorney by training, and served as the first director of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch’s Office of Mediation and Arbitration. She practiced law in the Upper Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire for more than 13 years, and has been an instructor and facilitator for numerous trainings and workshops on mediation both internally for the NH Judicial Branch and for outside groups and organizations. Prior to working as a lawyer and mediator, Karen was the president and general manager of NBC affiliate WNNE-TV and worked as the marketing and development director for Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, NH.

Karen is admitted to practice law in both Vermont and New Hampshire, although she is currently inactive in both states. She is a former president and vice president of the Grafton County Bar Association. Karen was the 2003-04 recipient of the Vermont Bar Association’s Community Service Award. She graduated with honors from both Middlebury College in 1979 and from Vermont Law School in 1993. Additionally, Karen has been an adjunct professor in dispute resolution at Vermont Law School. She currently serves on the OSHER at Dartmouth Life Long Learning Institute’s Marketing Committee and Leadership Council.

Karen has made her home in Lyme, NH, for more than three decades, and happily resides there now with her husband Keith and golden retriever Kooper. She is the proud mom of son Ryan, who is an assistant US attorney in Washington, DC, and son Alex, who resides in Boston and is a PhD candidate at Harvard.