A native of Michigan, Karen has over 25 years of experience in professional management, beginning her public sector career in the City of Oak Park, Michigan before coming to El Cerrito in 2001. Karen served as the Assistant City Manager for over 12 years, and was appointed City Manager in December 2018. She is passionate about local government and is dedicated to promoting professional, efficient, ethical management in California, across the country, and around the world.

Karen served as the 2019 President of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), having previously served as a Vice President of the ICMA Executive Board for the West Coast Region, and is the Past President of the Cal-ICMA Board, the state affiliate of ICMA. She is the President-Elect of the League of California Cities City Manager's Department and a member of the California City Management Foundation Board of Trustees. She is an ICMA Credentialed Manager, an Executive Member of the Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC) and a 2022 Fellow of the ICMA/Kettering Foundation/National Civic League Leadership Institute on Race, Equity, and Inclusion. Karen is a recipient of the 2007 MMANC Wes McClure Outstanding Assistant Award, the Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC) 2021 President's Award, and the California Women Leading Government (WLG) 2022 Career Excellence Award. 

Karen holds a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and is a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is also a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley Executive Seminar program.  

Karen is on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat as @kepinkos, and is on LinkedIn. Her email is kpinkos@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us.