Karen Craven, CMO of the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer: Turning Programs Into Public Trust

Karen Craven, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how public-sector marketing can build awareness, credibility, and trust. Her perspective is shaped by a career spanning journalism, government, public affairs, associations, education, and consumer-facing financial programs.What the Conversation Covers• Karen’s early career in journalism and how reporting shaped her approach to education, transparency, and public accountability.• The career pivots that moved her from journalism into government affairs, marketing, communications, and public-sector leadership.• How the Treasurer’s Office uses marketing to help residents understand programs tied to unclaimed property, college savings, retirement, disability savings, and community investment.• Why public programs require clear communication, ethical marketing, multilingual outreach, and trusted community channels.• How agencies can better understand government procurement, RFPs, partner selection, and the need to communicate complex programs clearly and responsibly.Guest BioKaren Craven is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. In her role, she helps lead marketing and communications for public-facing financial programs that serve Illinois residents, families, local governments, nonprofits, and communities. Her background includes journalism, public affairs, government, association leadership, marketing, and communications strategy.About the PodcastCMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.