Karen Sewell

Dame Karen Margaret Sewell (born ) is a New Zealand educator and public servant.

Career

Educator Sewell was born in Whanganui and attended Whanganui Girls College, where she was head girl and a classmate of future Māori Party leader Dame Tariana Turia. She studied at Victoria University of Wellington and trained as a teacher at Auckland Secondary Teachers’ College.

Senior public servant Sewell commenced as chief executive of the Education Review Office in 1996. In 2005, she was acting chief executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and held that position until May 2006. From 2006 to 2011, when she retired, she was Secretary for Education and chief executive of the Ministry of Education.

In 2012, Sewell was appointed chair of the board of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (formerly the Correspondence School); her term in that role ended in 2019. She was an advisor to the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, on schooling in Christchurch following the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. and in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education.

Private Life Karen Sewell now lives on Waiheke Island.