Karen Jones

Karen Jones is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Destination NSW and has more than 27 years of leadership experience in state and local government. Destination NSW is the lead agency, champion and voice for the NSW visitor economy, which was recently valued at $53.2 billion. Destination NSW also owns, manages and produces Australia's largest event, Vivid Sydney, and delivers the Australia Day in Sydney event program. In her substantive position, Karen is the Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Office of Sport, where she has led more than 400 employees across 18 locations to set the state’s sport policy agenda and provide direct services to communities. This included leading several key initiatives such as the ‘10 World Cups in 10 Years’ campaign alongside Destination NSW (including the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023), the Office of Sport’s Strategic Plan 2024-2028 and the implementation of two effective, highly successful and prominent women in sport strategies - Her Sport Her Way and Play Her Way. Karen is passionate about developing and marketing the state’s world-class visitor experiences to ensure NSW remains Australia’s top destination and events capital. Karen holds a Master of Business Administration and has studied at Harvard University, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Western Sydney University. Karen is also a graduate of the Company Director’s Course of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.