Karen Gordon

Karen Gordon’s route to the Japanese Canadian Centre started more than a decade ago when she bumped into a former work colleague (now a board member and soon-to-be JCCC President), Chris Hope, at a neighborhood drug store. That chance meeting led to her working with him as story editor and co-writer on his feature documentary. “Hatsumi” is the story of Chris's grandparents, who met and married in Vancouver, and how Canada’s internment during the Second World War affected their lives.  A few years later, she sat as a jury member for the Toronto Japanese Film Festival.  Since then, she and Chris have collaborated on several projects, including the JCCC’s videos for both “Keep the Lantern Lit” COVID-era fundraisers.

Documentaries and movies are only part of her career. Karen has a long and varied history in communications, broadcast, and writing across all media and platforms and has done everything from producing to hosting.  She’s a writer and story editor for documentary TV and IMAX/Giant Screen. She's just wrapped work on the giant screen film "Serengeti," which starts rolling out internationally in Spring 2022. She’s a film critic and one of the founding members of the movie review website original-cin.ca. She’s collaborated with celebrity chef David Rocco on three cookbooks, including the award-winning “Made in Italy.” Karen is also a media trainer and performance coach with a background in strategic publicity, marketing, and branding; She spent the big hair, big shoulder pad 1980s working in the music industry in Montreal and Toronto.

Above all, Karen believes that arts and culture is a powerful bridge that stimulates conversation, opens doors, connects, enlightens, brings joy, and builds friendships.