From 2002 to 2004, Karenna worked as the Director of Community Affairs for the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), a nonprofit that provides services for children in need in New York City. She now serves on the board of ABC as well as the board of Sanctuary for Families, which provides services for victims of domestic violence. Before that, she was an attorney at Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett. During the Gore 2000 campaign, she served as chair of the national youth outreach effort. Her other work experience includes freelance writing and positions on the editorial staffs of Slate magazine in Redmond, Washington, and El Pais newspaper in Madrid, Spain.
Karenna was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1973. She graduated from Harvard University in 1995 and Columbia Law School in 2000. She and her husband, Dr. Andrew Schiff, have three children.