Karen Beard graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Education with an emphasis in Special Education and she later returned to UMSL to receive her Masters in Business Administration. Mrs. Beard worked for twelve years in administrative roles at three local independent schools and preschools. Mrs. Beard joined the business office staff at Miriam Foundation in 2015 and became a teaching assistant in the Miriam School Middle School in the fall of 2018.