Karen LaGraff is the Chief Human Resources Officer for Rochester Midland Corporation. Karen has 40+years of HR experience, including key roles in the areas of labor relations, mergers & acquisitions, global HR transformation and all functional HR areas. 

Karen previously worked for Xerox Corporation, where she led global teams, implemented offshore operations, was the integration manager on several large-scale acquisitions and learned all areas of human resources. She also likes to say that she “defected” from HR for five years to lead two large operations inside of the supply chain to better understand business operations which has greatly impacted how she views the role of HR in any organization.  She has consulted at several companies as well and provides leadership coaching. 

Karen is an active member of the Rochester community. She has been a keynote speaker for the global HR organization “DisruptHR” and a panelist for events hosted by SHRM, Women’s EmpowHERment, and FlexJobs, speaking on a variety of topics from handling grief in the workplace to flexible work strategies. Karen is a board member and head of the HR Committee at Lifespan, a member of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Large Company Senior HR Executive Forum and a member of the ROBEX Health Consortium. She is a very active member of The Rochester Women’s Network (RWN); involved in several special interest groups and on the RWN Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committees.

Karen has a thirst for learning and continuous improvement. She has a Bachelor’s degree in HR from Roberts Wesleyan College, an Executive MBA from RIT and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.  She loves to travel, have adventures and go to live shows.    

Karen has two adult sons – Max who takes after her late husband with his ingenuity and James Paul – a talented musician who lives in New York City.  Karen leads with positivity and lives by Gandhi’s saying “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”