Karen Hemphill's Obituary
KAREN HEMPHILL
Karen Johnson Hemphill served on the Berkeley Unified School District School Board from 2006-2018 and is a two times past Board President. Before being elected to the School Board, she was an active parent for ten years, serving in various school site and district-wide leadership roles. She was the first elected School Board member endorsed by United in Action, a grassroots coalition dedicated to raising the academic achievement of children of color in Berkeley’s public schools and was involved with Parents with Children of African Descent (PCAD). She was a fierce champion for Career Technical Education, fighting for funding to develop living wage job training opportunities, such as Fire Science, Carpentry, and Robotics programs as well as state of the art STEM facilities, such as the Berkeley High Fabrications Lab.
Karen’s other public involvement included being a former member of the City of Berkeley’s Civic Arts, Status of Women, Socially Responsible Investment, and Solid Waste Commissions. She was also a past elected representative to the California Democratic Central Committee (Assembly District 15) and attended the 2010 and 2012 State Democratic Conventions. Karen began her political activism as a student – participating in the Third World student takeover of her university’s administrative offices, later serving as President of the Black Graduate Student Organization and then co-founder of the Africa Resource Center and co-leader of $top Banking on Apartheid – organizations which led efforts in making Berkeley the first city in the United States to divest from South Africa.
After working as a political activist for several years, Karen decided to work for social change through a career in local government, first working as the aide to Councilmember Maudelle Shirek and later working for the City of Berkeley as an analyst. At Berkeley, Karen started the first municipal organic waste collection/composting program as well as the first citywide commercial recycling program in California. Karen retired from the City of Emeryville as the City’s Principal Analyst/Assistant to the City Manager which included serving as the City’s City Clerk and Public Information Officer where she was best known for establishing the Emery Go-Round shuttle. Recently, until her death, Karen served on Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Advisory Committee.
Karen was born in Washington D.C. and grew up most of her life in Silver Spring, Maryland where in 1963 her family was one of three African American families to move to the previously all white Montgomery County. Karen earned an A.B. from Brown University and a M.A. from U.C. Berkeley and has been married for 37 years to her husband Richelieu. Karen has two sons, Elijah (Brittany) and Jonah and a stepson, Richelieu Jr (Kamili). After attending Berkeley public schools, her sons Elijah and Jonah graduated from Fisk and Columbia respectively and are working in their chosen fields of business and music. Richelieu Jr graduated from Morehouse College and lives and works in New Orleans, LA. Karen cherished her grandchild, Tahj (Elijah and Brittany) and step grandkids, Ellington, Matisse (Richelieu Jr and Kamili). Karen has a sister, Lynn Carole Johnson, predeceased brother, Michael Johnson and predeceased parents, Ernestine and Lawrence Johnson of New Kent County, Virginia.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to:
BUSD CTE Program (Career Technical Education Program in the Berkeley Unified School District)
The district can take cash or checks.
Checks should be made payable to "BUSD CTE Program" and mailed to:
Attention: Pauline Follansbee
BUSD District Office
2020 Bonar Street
Berkeley, CA 94702
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