Karen Sommers, Co-Founder/President

Karen’s charitable efforts began in 2000 when she managed the fund raising efforts for The Marathon of Hope, a road race that raised money for the Ukrainian Orphanage charity Help Us Help the Children. She and her husband, Bob, started Smiling Kids Inc. in 2003. Karen is an active participant in the Boston University College of Communications Professional Partners Mentor Program.  In addition, she is a busy mom and is the co-owner of City Wide Maintenance, a commercial building maintenance business started in 2008 with her husband Bob.

Karen began her sales career in Boston, MA with the LoJack Corporation (’89-92) and WBMX/MIX 98.5FM (’92- 95). From 1995-2000 she was the General Sales Manager for American Radio Systems stations WRMM, Rochester, NY; WRKO, Boston and finally WBMX, Boston under the new ownership of CBS/Infinity Broadcasting.

Karen graduated from Boston University in 1989 with a B.S. in Mass Communications/PR. She lives in Southborough, MA with her husband and three children.

Bob Sommers, Co-Founder

Bob's charitable endeavors include volunteering at the Salvation Army, The Utica Big Brother program, and running the 2000 Marathon of Hope in Athens, Greece for the benefit of Ukrainian orphans. The common theme has been his interest in helping children who are less fortunate.

In 2008 Bob and Karen starting City Wide Maintenance of Boston, a commercial building maintenance company.  Prior to City Wide Bob worked in a variety of sales and marketing management positions in the high-tech industry. Most recently he was  Director of Business Development at TotalView Technologies in Natick, MA. Previously he held positions in business development at CenterStone Software, Sun Microsystems Inc. and Open Market.

Bob is a 1990 graduate of Hamilton College with a BA in Psychology and a 1995 graduate from Babson College Olin School of Management with a MBA in Marketing. Bob is also an active father of three and a weekend saltwater fisherman who resides in Southborough, MA his wife, and Smiling Kids co-founder Karen.

 

Advisors

Donna Freeman, Lead Volunteer

Mark Zides, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Sue Gordon, Owner, Let's Get Personal

Erik Westwig, Senior Software Engineer, Palisade Corporation