Karen Downes 

Karen is the founder of The Flourish Initiative, co-founder of FemmeQ, and member of Catalyst2030. Over the span of her 30-year career, Karen has built/launched successful companies, supported civil society organizations to transform entrenched cultural norms, advised business leaders, and led development programs around the world. From her beginnings in alternative healthcare, Karen co-founded and built an $8.5m enterprise; a kitchen tabletop to global business success story, whose products and programs touched the lives of thousands of women in five countries and transformed the healthcare industry. As a social change agent, Karen worked as an activist to transform the subjugation and marginalization of women in India and Bangladesh by partnering with The Hunger Project. Since moving to London in 2003, she has worked as a business advisor, leadership consultant, program lead, and coach.

Karen's Bounce Beyond role

The purpose of this work is to create a sacred space that allows for the full potential and energy of each person in any group to be released for the purpose of fulfilling the aspirations or vision of the enterprise.



In a sacred space humility is key, that is; the desire to be equal is necessary, status and authority is put aside for the benefit of something new and the ‘not yet known’ to arise in the group.  This process of deep collaboration brings about the understanding that authority, autonomy, expertise and even independence can prevent the possibility of healing and transformation in a community or group.  Deep listening for what is being said that has not been said before is key to the spontaneous eruption necessary for new possibilities to arise.