Her Story
About Karen
Karen Thor is the Founder and President of NextStep Raleigh, a nonprofit paralysis recovery center serving individuals affected by spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological conditions. The organization, based in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and operating as the only facility of its kind in the northern part of the state, emerged from a deeply personal turning point in Karen's life. In 2015, her son suffered a severe spinal cord injury after being struck by a car, prompting the family to relocate to Atlanta so he could receive intensive rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center, one of the nation's leading spinal cord injury treatment facilities. Witnessing firsthand the transformative power of activity-based therapy, Karen recognized upon returning home that no comparable program existed locally—so she built one herself, giving her son and others like him the chance to continue their recovery close to home. Prior to her nonprofit work, Karen spent more than two decades building a distinguished career in banking and financial technology. She held senior leadership positions including Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at National Commerce Financial, a $26 billion institution, and led treasury management, small business, and merchant services divisions throughout her banking tenure. She later ran her own consulting firm, Revenue Enhancement Associates, helping community banks strengthen their treasury and group banking operations, before transitioning into national sales leadership roles with WAUSAU Financial Systems and Deluxe Corporation, where she managed teams selling complex payments and financial software solutions to banks nationwide. She holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and is a Certified Cash Manager (CCM) and member of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). After seven years serving as Executive Director of NextStep Raleigh, Karen transitioned into her current role, where she now concentrates on fundraising, board leadership, community outreach, and expanding access to cutting-edge rehabilitation technology, including the recently introduced ARC-EX device by ONWARD Medical, which has shown notable success in restoring hand and arm function for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries. Though she considers herself semi-retired from the day-to-day operations she once managed, Karen remains deeply engaged through special projects and strategic initiatives, and the center continues to grow under her guidance, currently supporting close to 40 active clients and pursuing significant grant funding to expand its offerings further. Outside of her professional life, Karen treasures time with her family, including her granddaughter, and enjoys gardening. Guided by values of compassion, integrity, resilience, and hope, she describes her proudest achievement not in terms of corporate success, but in the lives she has helped change—embodied by the sign hanging in her facility that reads, "Prove them wrong."
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Karen
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to perseverance, adaptability, and a willingness to step into an entirely unfamiliar field after my son's injury. My business background gave me the confidence to build an organization from the ground up, while my passion for helping others has been the driving force behind its continued growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Remain open to learning, trust your ability to solve problems, and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone when pursuing meaningful work. Some of the most rewarding opportunities come from challenges you never expected to face.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Network, network, network. Stay in touch with the people you've met throughout your career. Don't let a lack of prior experience stop you from pursuing a mission you're passionate about. Surround yourself with knowledgeable people, continue learning, ask questions, and never underestimate your ability to create meaningful change in your community. If you find something you care deeply about, you need to figure it out and go do it — I'm a very action-oriented person, so when there's a problem, I try to find a solution and do something about it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is securing sustainable funding for specialized neuro-rehabilitation services and advanced equipment that are often not covered by insurance. At the same time, there are tremendous opportunities through emerging rehabilitation technology, innovative equipment like the ARC-EX device, expanded community partnerships, and grant funding that can dramatically improve recovery outcomes for individuals living with neurological injuries or conditions.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My whole focus has changed to helping people who are in really horrible, tough situations in their lives. We celebrate when a client's finger wiggles for the first time — we have a big sign at our facility that says, "Prove them wrong." The values that matter most to me are compassion, service to others, integrity, resilience, innovation, hope, community, and family.
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