Karen Gahl-Mills is a professor of practice at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. She also serves as the O’Neill School’s director of Arts Administration Programs and the co-director of the Paul H. O’Neill Center for Leadership in Public Service.
She came to teaching after a career as a public and nonprofit sector leader, including CEO roles at Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, a large grant-making organization in Cleveland, Ohio; the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in upstate New York; and the Westchester Philharmonic in suburban New York City. She applies practical lessons from her distinguished career to her administrative work and to teaching courses in nonprofit governance, leadership, strategy, fundraising, and public policy. She has developed and taught many of the O’Neill Leadership Center’s co-curricular leadership courses.
Professor Gahl-Mills also serves as a coach for nonprofit and government boards and commissions, using her extensive experience as both a trustee and an executive director to help boards navigate change. Recent projects include work with the Indiana Arts Commission, Genesys Works Chicago, and the Old Town School of Folk Music.
She has received numerous awards and honors, including Crain’s “Who’s Who in Northeast Ohio,” Crain’s “Women of Note,” and the Business Council of Westchester’s “40 Under 40.” She has received many teaching awards from Indiana University, including the Trustees Teaching Award in 2022. She serves on university’s Arts and Humanities Council and was elected to the Board of Trustees of the League of American Orchestras in 2026.
She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.