The Genki Spark
Karen S. Young: Founding Director
In her decades-long work as a community builder, performer, and social practice artist Karen Young inspires real connection. Her personal story of disenfranchisement compelled her to find her own voice and use it to help others find theirs. Her passion for taiko drumming was ignited the first time she heard it thirty years ago. It is now the center of her work. Turning aspiration into realization, Young’s approach to taiko inspires marginalized populations to reclaim voice, culture, power, and a sense of belonging.
Karen is the Founding Director of The Genki Spark, Co-Founder/Co-Producer of the Brookline Cherry Blossom Festival, and in 2018 was selected as one of seven Boston AIRs (Artists in Residence) a program of the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture focusing her work on resilience and racial equity. In addition she's been instrumental in launching www.womenandtaiko.org an initiative to increase the visibility of women in the art form and Taiko and Community a community building initiative supported by the Taiko Community Alliance (TCA.) She is a 2018 recipient of The Boston Foundation's Live Arts Boston program.
Prior to founding The Genki Spark in 2010, Karen got her start as an original member with Odaiko New England (ONE), Greater Boston's first performing taiko group founded by Elaine Fong in 1994. Karen has many mentors including Tiffany Tamaribuchi founder of the Sacramento Taiko Dan and Roy and PJ Hirabayashi co-founder and former artistic director and original member of San Jose Taiko respectively. Karen is a 2008 alumni of KASA mix having traveled to Japan to take part in workshops held by Kodo instructors as well served as residency staff and participant with SHIDARA. Karen leads taiko workshops and discussions throughout North America and Europe at the North American Taiko Conference, European Taiko Conference, Regional Taiko Conference, East Coast Taiko Conference, UK Taiko Festival, has featured interviews and videos with TaikoSource, Talkin' Taiko with Tyrone, and TCA Taikothon, is a TCA charter member, and has been part of the North American Taiko Community since 1997.
In addition to her role as a performer and arts educator, Karen is a determined trailblazer and entrepreneur, having founded Youth on Board, a nationally recognized youth advocacy and technical assistance organization. Through her role as founder and lead consultant, Karen worked in a variety of settings from small grassroots and youth run initiatives, to Mayor’s offices and school districts. She is a principle author of: Youth on Board’s 15 Points to Successfully Involving Youth in Decision Making, and Your Guide to Youth Involvement and the Law, and a contributing author of; Money Talks so Can We and Asian Voices from Beantown. She has served on numerous boards and commissions, and was most notably appointed by Presidents Bush and Clinton to the 1990 Commission on National and Community Service which launched the well known federal program AMERICORPS. Karen has also been part of the United to End Racism delegation at the Tule Lake Pilgrimage honoring Japanese and Japanese American incarcerees since 2009. Karen has her BA in Human Ecology from Humboldt State University.
Karen is the Founding Director of The Genki Spark, Co-Founder/Co-Producer of the Brookline Cherry Blossom Festival, and in 2018 was selected as one of seven Boston AIRs (Artists in Residence) a program of the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture focusing her work on resilience and racial equity. In addition she's been instrumental in launching www.womenandtaiko.org an initiative to increase the visibility of women in the art form and Taiko and Community a community building initiative supported by the Taiko Community Alliance (TCA.) She is a 2018 recipient of The Boston Foundation's Live Arts Boston program.
Prior to founding The Genki Spark in 2010, Karen got her start as an original member with Odaiko New England (ONE), Greater Boston's first performing taiko group founded by Elaine Fong in 1994. Karen has many mentors including Tiffany Tamaribuchi founder of the Sacramento Taiko Dan and Roy and PJ Hirabayashi co-founder and former artistic director and original member of San Jose Taiko respectively. Karen is a 2008 alumni of KASA mix having traveled to Japan to take part in workshops held by Kodo instructors as well served as residency staff and participant with SHIDARA. Karen leads taiko workshops and discussions throughout North America and Europe at the North American Taiko Conference, European Taiko Conference, Regional Taiko Conference, East Coast Taiko Conference, UK Taiko Festival, has featured interviews and videos with TaikoSource, Talkin' Taiko with Tyrone, and TCA Taikothon, is a TCA charter member, and has been part of the North American Taiko Community since 1997.
In addition to her role as a performer and arts educator, Karen is a determined trailblazer and entrepreneur, having founded Youth on Board, a nationally recognized youth advocacy and technical assistance organization. Through her role as founder and lead consultant, Karen worked in a variety of settings from small grassroots and youth run initiatives, to Mayor’s offices and school districts. She is a principle author of: Youth on Board’s 15 Points to Successfully Involving Youth in Decision Making, and Your Guide to Youth Involvement and the Law, and a contributing author of; Money Talks so Can We and Asian Voices from Beantown. She has served on numerous boards and commissions, and was most notably appointed by Presidents Bush and Clinton to the 1990 Commission on National and Community Service which launched the well known federal program AMERICORPS. Karen has also been part of the United to End Racism delegation at the Tule Lake Pilgrimage honoring Japanese and Japanese American incarcerees since 2009. Karen has her BA in Human Ecology from Humboldt State University.