Education & Professional Development

Karisa has over two decades of experience in group facilitation. Her learning environments are rich, interactive, and creative, with a touch of humor here and there. She has worked intensively with college, early childhood, older adult, and young adult students.

Leadership development and employee well-being are two of Karisa’s specialties. She completed her Career Development Facilitator studies through the National Career Development Association, and she is a Certified Practitioner of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) Assessment. She has served as an Alumni Career Advisor at Stony Brook University. At the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Karisa collaboratively launched a professional development workshop series for current and former fellows, interns, and mentors. For this series, she has presented on networking, life balance, and work wellness. In partnership with students in the DSO’s Civic Youth Ensembles, Karisa co-designed Senza, a professional development program for and with youth from communities underrepresented in classical music. Senza is a personalized curriculum of courses, mentorship, cultural experiences, community engagement, practical experience, and networking, driven by participants’ experiences and goals. While the program design is individually responsive, there is a strong teamwork component; Senza is specifically designed to build a strong cohort of high school students who learn, lead, and grow together over their time in the program, and continue their involvement into their post-graduation years, through peer support and mentorship of new program participants.  

In addition to earning a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, a Master of Music degree from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Grand Valley State University, Karisa holds an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Baruch College. She is certified in Results-Based Accountability™. Karisa was a Carnegie Hall Choral Fellow; she has studied Arts in Aging at the Creative Center, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics at the Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center.