# Karen Jacobsen

Karen Jacobsen is an Australian-born New York-based entertainer, singer, motivational speaker, voiceover artist, and songwriter.

## Early life and education

Karen Jacobsen was born in Mackay, Queensland, Australia. She started writing songs at the age of seven, and was inspired to be a professional singer by her idol Olivia Newton-John.
She graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, studying jazz in the late 1980s and earning an Associate Diploma of Music. Before learning jazz, she had been trained in classical singing and playing the piano.

## Career
### U.S.

On 4 July 2000, she relocated to New York City, writing and recording songs, and has since released ten albums on her independent label Kurly Queen.
Her songs have been on soundtracks for Dawson's Creek and the NBC show Passions, and she has shared the stage with Christopher Cross, Neil Sedaka, Norah Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Spyro Gyra, Deborah Cox, Jars of Clay, Three Dog Night, and Rachael Sage. She has written or recorded with Andy Zulla, David Zippel, Sean O'Boyle, Amy Powers, and Nicole Zuraitis.
In 2002, Jacobsen's speaking voice was chosen as one of the Australian English options for the text-to-speech system used in GPS units for Garmin, Navman, TomTom, and Mio and in telephone and computer software systems. Jacobsen has been dubbed by ABC News and CBS News as 'The Dashboard Diva' and by the Gold Coast Bulletin as 'Gadget Girl'.
She created the empowerment brand "The GPS Girl" and in speaking engagements and performances shares the "five directions for recalculating", "How to Recalculate in Business and Life", and "The GPS Girl's Top Ten Directions for Life".
From 2011 to 2014, Jacobsen's voice was used as the original female Australian voice of the Siri application on Apple iPhones, iPods and iPads.
Jacobsen was president of the New York Chapter of the National Speakers Association in 2015 and performed on the main stage of the national conference singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and for the NSA Youth Convention in San Diego in 2014. She served on the board of directors of the National Speakers Association, as Secretary (2017 to 2019)
She has appeared as keynote speaker and concert performer at the Global Speakers Summit in Vancouver in 2013, the World Meetings Forum in Cancun (2014), the World Contact Forum in Mexico City (2014), the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association conference (2015) Gold Coast, Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing conference (2015) Tasmania and at TEDxTraverseCity. Jacobsen was the closing keynote speaker at Project Management Institute's Symposium in Singapore, and on corporate day at the Global Speakers Summit in Auckland, New Zealand in 2018.
In New York Jacobsen performed her one-woman show at the piano at off-Broadway theatres Stage 72 at The Triad, the Laurie Beechman Theatre, and Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre, The Duplex, and The Bitter End.
She has composed music and osongs since 1993, including "Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun with Supa K" with composer Michael Whalen (2011), "Take a Little Drive" (2013), and "Destination Christmas" (2015).
On Christmas Eve 2015, Jacobsen performed "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" on the live telecast of the Vision Australia Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia.
She performed "Advance Australia Fair" at the State of Origin Rugby League game on 22 June 2016 for a capacity crowd of 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
In November 2017, Jacobsen performed an arrangement of "America the Beautiful" with the High Point University Chamber Singers at HPU's annual Veterans Day Celebration.
Jacobsen was appointed as a "Global Artist in Residence" at High Point University in December 2017.

### Australia

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacobsen left her New York home of 20 years for Queensland and moved to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland. As official destination ambassador she promoted the region through media appearances, record breaking advertising campaigns and her original music, videos and performances.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's iconic misogyny speech, Jacobsen set the speech to music word for word. The Misogyny Opus is a one-hour pop orchestral work, with the first section released in October 2022 with a music video including 70 equality advocates from around the world. As composer for the piece, Jacobsen recorded a full album and tour to spark conversation and empower a "wave of equality"."One Australian artist has gone a step further, giving the speech a glow-up into a Disney musical worthy tune by Queensland recording artist, Karen Jacobsen" The Misogyny Opus album was nominated for Best Independent Classical Album or EP at the Australian Independent Record AIR Awards in 2024.
Jacobsen is co-founder of the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival, with the inaugural event taking place in September 2022 with a professional songwriter residency that included Graeme Connors, Tia Gostelow, Leanne Tennant, Bryce Sainty, and co-founder Francesca de Valence in Funnel Bay, near Airlie Beach. The Whitsongfest is part of the Whitsundays Arts Festival. The 2023 Whitsundays Songwriter Festival featured Toni Childs, Vika and Linda, and Mark Sholtez. As of July 2024 she is president of the festival.

## Other activities

Jacobsen travelled to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2006 to meet her sponsored child. She took part in the charity documentary film To Zambia With Love, along with Tom Hudak and Neil Gordon.
In 2014 and 2015, she was the keynote speaker for EYO, an AAUW event for young women.
In 2015, she partnered with Careflight (now LifeFlight) Helicopters and Mackay CQ Rescue in Queensland, speaking and singing at a series of events to raise awareness and funds for their lifesaving work.
In 2018, she narrated the audiobook of Broken to Brilliant - Breaking Free to be You After Domestic Violence, with anonymous stories from ten women. Funds raised from sales support programs for survivors. She is the international patron of Broken to Brilliant.

## Recognition and awards

* Dallas Songwriting Contest, Singer Songwriter Category 1st Place 2002
* 2003: Abe Olman Scholarship, Songwriters Hall of Fame
* 2003: UK Songwriting Contest, Pop Category Runner-up
* 2012: Dottie Burman Award, National Speakers Association NYC Chapter
* 2016: Outstanding Alumnus of the Year, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University
* 2016: President's Award for Distinguished Service, National Speakers Association

## Selected publications

* The GPS Girl's Road Map for Your Future. 11 November 2011 – via Google Books.

## Personal life

Jacobsen has a son.