Karen Horne

Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Warner Bros. Discovery | USA

Karen Horne is Senior Vice President, Equity and Inclusion, Programs, WarnerMedia. As a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, she has been recognized as a Diversity and Inclusion pioneer and pipeline builder.

Before WarnerMedia, Horne was at NBC Entertainment and Universal Television Studios as Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development and Inclusion where she was responsible for overseeing in-front-of and behind-the-camera primetime diversity efforts for NBC and Universal Television. The programs and initiatives she created and/or developed there became the industry’s gold standard and a blueprint for many other companies.

Horne’s lengthy resume includes a variety of disciplines and experience, including her tenure as Director of Creative Affairs at IDT Animation; designing, implementing, and overseeing Nickelodeon’s Writer Fellowship Program; serving as the Director of Writer Development & Special Projects and Studio Liaison for the Walt Disney Studios Fellowship Program at Walt Disney Network Television; and holding the position of Director, West Coast, for the Black Filmmaker Foundation. Her early career features stints as an executive assistant to the president of ABC Entertainment, as well as positions at ABC Television Network Group and ABC Sports. Horne also worked at HBO as a co-producer for the Emmy Award-winning animated series Spawn.

Horne has always been dedicated to increasing equity and inclusion in the entertainment industry throughout her career. She has been honored with several awards and recognitions for her diversity and inclusion work and her service to underrepresented communities.