Kari Esbensen

Kari coordinates the Venture Center and CAP Service’s Career and Leadership Exploration Program, which introduces disadvantaged but promising young adults to post-secondary career and entrepreneurship training opportunities and helps builds the skills necessary for academic and career success.

Kari is a board eligible National Certified Counselor (NCC) who possesses graduate degrees in Counseling Psychology and Environmental Studies. For the past twenty years, she has managed an independent consulting practice, Arborvitae Ecological Services, providing organizational and technical assistance to non-profits, communities, businesses and individuals in the cross disciplinary fields of sustainability, public policy, planning and the environment. She is also the owner of Arborvitae Counseling, LCC, which offers career and life counseling to youth and adults facing major challenges and transitions.

Kari presently coordinates the Venture Center and CAP Service’s Career and Leadership Exploration Program, which introduces disadvantaged but promising young adults to post-secondary career and entrepreneurship training opportunities and helps build the skills necessary for academic and career success.

A life-long learner and educator, Kari has held adjunct teaching positions with Fox Valley Technical College in the Departments of Science and Natural Resources in addition to her current appointment. She has also held a faculty appointment with the University of Wisconsin Extension, and coordinated educational programs on behalf of the Waupaca County Land and Water Conservation Department, as well as the Department of Natural Resources. She is a member of the freelance staff of the Waupaca County Post, originating a monthly column, Sustainability in Tough Times, featuring practical, affordable and environmentally sustainable options for managing one’s business, home and community, highlighting the industrious spirit of Central Wisconsin’s rural small business entrepreneurs.  

Kari feels fortunate to pair her devotion to the environment with the empowerment of others through her work and civic volunteerism. She continues to discover new ways to foster leadership skills in others through engagement with the natural world and sustainable design. A small business owner, she is elated by the 21st century interest in things “green”, excited to be in a position to capture emerging market opportunities and thrilled to help others capture them as well.

Kari received the 2002 Arbor Day Award from the Waupaca Tree Advisory Committee for outstanding service in the creation, acquisition and preservation of greenspace in and around the Waupaca Community. She is the recipient of the 2010 Friend of Conservation Award by the Waupaca County Land Conservation Committee.  

She holds an M.S. in Water Resource Management from the Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.A. in Counseling Psychology, Vermont College of Union Institute and University and Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.