About Karen
Karen Maruyama Bolognese is mother of three including a recent Winchester High School graduate, a current WHS student, and a McCall middle schooler. Currently in her second term on the School Committee, she serves as Chair of the School Committee, the first Asian American to do so.
Focus:
In her tenure with the School Committee, she is particularly focused on driving process, policy, and the development of the district’s 5 year budgetary and strategic plan, Winchester 2030. She has also wholeheartedly supported the milestones of the Lynch School rebuilding project, which is within budget and on target to reopen in Fall 2025. This will be Winchester’s first net zero building, powered by solar panels that are directly owned by the Town.
Groundbreaking & Rise of the New Lynch Elementary School
Community Service:
Karen has been extensively involved in the Winchester community over the years and stays connected to the Vinson-Owen Elementary School as a liaison to the V-O Science Park and the Parent Association. She also serves on the Board of Advisors to the Winchester Community Music School and is active in numerous roles across the schools and throughout the town.
Since 2012, she has served as a dedicated member of Town Meeting. She led enrichment at the McCall and Vinson Owen schools. Prior to her work on the School Committee, she was elected to several terms on the School Councils of the McCall and Vinson Owen schools, representing the diversity of those communities and helping to develop the core values and mission statement for the V-O School. Karen spearheaded the V-O School’s International Night from 2016-2022.
She chaired the Governance Committee of the Board of Trustees for the Winchester Community Music School from 2019-2024 and has participated in the WCMS Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee.
Founder & Co-Chair: VO International Night
Volunteering Time in the Classroom
Professional:
By training, she is a large animal veterinarian in Massachusetts and formerly an Assistant Vice President of Finance with Ford Motor Company’s start-up in the Philippines. She worked in Nagoya, Japan, as a teacher and then in Tokyo, Japan, as an interpreter / translator for a major Japanese life insurer. Her husband, Ralph, is a Vice President of Finance at Connection, was born and raised in Medford, and is very active in Winchester sports.
Education:
She holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine; a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business; and a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in English from Vanderbilt University. She also studied advanced Japanese in the Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.
Supporting the WFEE Trivia Bee!
Riding the incomparable Bear!
