Karen Kennedy, is the owner and President of 24/Seven Artist Development, a leading artist management firm founded in1992 to provide full-range strategic marketing and career planning to the finest artists in entertainment including Kenny Barron, named a 2010 Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts and recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; multiple Grammy nominees Stefon Harris and Jacky Terrasson, the heralded vocalist Gretchen Parlato, winner of the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and winner of the 2009 Village Voice Critics Poll (Vocals) , and TV host Lisa Smith-Putnam. Prior to launching her business Ms. Kennedy was an executive at several major record labels including A&M Records,Perspective Records and Silas/MCA Records. She currently is on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA, a M.A. in Counseling and College Administration from the University of Southern California and is a Ph.D. candidate in Higher Education at UCLA.