Karen Persichilli Keogh 

Karen Persichilli Keogh serves as Secretary to Governor Kathy Hochul, the highest-ranking appointed position in state government. She brings over two decades of operational and managerial experience to the administration. For seven years, she served on then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's senior staff as New York State Director and campaign manager for her successful 2006 Senate re-election. Keogh managed the then-Senator’s statewide staff, and played a vital role in the aftermath of 9/11, including health funding for first responders. She managed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's transition from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate and served as a senior political advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 campaign.

Before joining the Hochul Administration in 2021, she served as the Head of Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she managed $2 billion in global philanthropic investments. She joined JPMorgan Chase in 2010 as Managing Director and Head of State and Local Government Relations. 

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation and the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society.  She has served on a number of non-profit boards including the Stony Brook Foundation, iFoster, Invisible Hands and an ex-officio trustee of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 

Keogh, affectionately known as KPK, was born and raised on Long Island. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Stony Brook University and a Master's of Science from Columbia University. She and her husband live in Brooklyn and have a home in Sag Harbor.