Ms. Karkera, a trailblazing leader, is known for her unique approach to problem-solving. Her career is marked by her ability to swiftly generate and evaluate alternative, feasible solutions. She excels in building effective, diverse, and inclusive teams that are instrumental in achieving organizational objectives.

Ms. Karkera’s illustrious career is centered around public sector law and fair labor practices. She earned her juris doctorate from the Washington College of Law at American University. Notably, she served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of the 'COVID-19 Reimagination, Reconstitution and Recovery Plan'. This plan was crucial in ensuring the safety of team members during intelligence missions, showcasing her leadership during a crisis.

Ms. Karkera has demonstrated strong business acumen in supporting the day-to-day operations of a 14,500-person global organization. With the support of her team and in less than two months, Ms. Karkera’s innovative efforts significantly increased the organization's mandatory submission requirements rate to the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence. Additionally, she revamped the organization’s governance structure to reduce the overall forums thereby optimizing and prioritizing decision-making clearly linked to the organization’s strategy focused on serving the mission of the intelligence community. Previously, Ms. Karkera served as a U.S. Department of Labor trial attorney in Washington, D.C., assisting the Department of Justice with prosecuting claims and developing watershed legal theories that reduced potential damages by several million dollars.

With a proven track record as a practicing attorney and legal consultant, Ms. Karkera has ample experience fostering national and international strategies to enhance business and contractual relationships. She is an employment law subject matter expert with experience assessing Title VII, Section 1981, Family Medical Labor Association (FMLA); Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Americans with Disability Act (ADA), among others.

While working as Assistant General Counsel for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Ms. Karkera collaborated with the Equal Opportunity Office and the Office of General Council to develop and execute live training related to equal opportunity issues and DIA equal opportunity cases, which was applauded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as a revolutionary way to educate the workforce. The Director selected her as DIA’s Initiative Team Lead for its “Reshape DIA’s Culture” initiative, which sought to realign the Agency’s organizational culture to its core values.

With her appointment as IBTS’ CEO in October 2022, Ms. Karkera is focusing on continuing IBTS’ growth as a trusted partner and advisor to clients across sectors, leveraging the organization’s national workforce of subject matter experts and its unparalleled experience in the built environment to create stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous communities.