Karen Cashion is CEO of Tech Alpharetta, which was created by the City of Alpharetta in 2012 and is now
a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization. Tech Alpharetta’s mission is to identify opportunities and initiatives to
help grow technology and innovation in Alpharetta. In addition to its strategic advisory board, Tech
Alpharetta runs a thriving tech startup incubator in Alpharetta, and hosts tech thought leadership events
for tech executives.
Karen is also the founder, Chairperson, and past president of the Greater Alpharetta Tech Network
(“GATN”), also a 501(c)6 organization, which she formed in 2013 in order to provide the Greater
Alpharetta technology community with a locally-based technology organization whose mission was to
connect technology executives through tech thought leadership, educational, and networking events.
GATN merged into Tech Alpharetta as of January 1, 2018.
Karen is an attorney with twenty years of experience as a commercial litigator and corporate technology
lawyer. Karen began her career at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City, and in addition to law
firm practice, has served as Assistant General Counsel for EarthLink and Legal Counsel, Global
Technology for Travelport, LP in Atlanta.
Karen received her J.D. with high honors from Duke University School of Law, where she served as
Senior Editor of the Law & Contemporary Problems Journal. Karen received her Bachelor of Arts degree,
summa cum laude, from Emory University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Karen has served as a Commissioner on the City of Alpharetta’s Planning Commission, is a 2014 graduate
of Leadership North Fulton, and is a graduate of the 2015 Georgia Academy for Economic Development.
She has also served on the Board of Directors for the North Fulton Bar Association. Karen currently
serves on the Advisory Board for the University of North Georgia’s Center for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation, and on the Advisory Board for Vinings Bank. Karen and her husband and two children are
longtime residents of the city of Alpharetta.