Karine Decker is a Program Manager at California Consulting. Karine has more than 18 years of experience. Karine is a native Brazilian who moved to the US when she was still young. Her father was an entrepreneur and small business owner and her first job was working for him in the family farm machinery implementation company.
After graduating high school she attended the University of Missouri – Kansas City and earned her degree in Economics. She began her career working in economic development for the Clay County Economic Development Council in Kansas City, Missouri, and was quickly promoted to Director of Finance programs for their affiliate Midwest Small Business Finance. In her hybrid role, Karine gained experience with grant writing, financing for small businesses, and working with the City of Kansas City and Clay County on economic development projects.
After nearly a decade of fulfilling work in that role, she transitioned to commercial lending working for various banks in Missouri until 2017 when she moved to the Bay Area to continue her career in lending.
In 2021 Karine accepted a position with the City of Gilroy as their Economic Development Manager where she worked to successfully advance many of the city’s initiatives including obtaining a $3.9 million dollar Clean Cali Grant for downtown revitalization.