Canada Board
Member
Karen Golden is a Toronto lawyer, working as Senior Counsel at the Ontario Ministry of Health, primarily in health privacy law.
Karen studied Political Science and Middle East Studies at McGill University, with a semester of studies at each of Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Karen then went on to obtain her LL. B from Osgoode Hall Law School and, at the same time, maintained her connection to issues of social justice in the Middle East through independent legal study on Israel’s Basic Laws and an internship at the Israeli Ministry of Justice.
Following her articles in Toronto at Goodman, Phillips and Vineberg, Karen moved to Jerusalem, became an Israeli citizen, articled for the law firm of Shimron, Molho, Persky and Co. and advocated for Palestinian rights through organizations like Peace Now.
Upon returning to Canada, Karen began her career in the Ontario Public Service, working first in consumer protection policy and then lawyering for: Ontario’s Treasury Board Secretariat, the Local Health Integration Networks and finally, the Ontario Ministry of Health. Karen provides legal advice in the areas of privacy, procurement, contract management, and other matters of public law. Karen also supports health privacy legislative development.
Karen maintains her connection to the community through volunteer work, including becoming the founding president of a community nursery school (The Helene Comay Nursery School) in the early 2000s and now serving as Secretary on the Board Executive of her synagogue, The First Narayever Congregation.
When not lawyering or working on volunteer projects, Karen can be found outdoors hiking, biking and traveling with her partner, David Beutel or, with her 2 kids, Tevi and Orly Mandel, cheering on the Toronto Maple Leafs with relentless optimism!