Karen Murphy enters her 26th season as a member of the Chicago Bears in 2025. Initially joining the Bears in 1999, Murphy serves as the organization's first-ever Executive Vice President of Stadium Development & Chief Operating Officer since being named to the position in 2024.
Murphy oversees the organization's transformative stadium development project, working closely with President & CEO Kevin Warren on creating, evolving and executing long-term, strategic objectives centered around building a transcendent, world-class stadium for Bears fans, while fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.
Murphy's leadership and counsel extend across critical areas, including finance and accounting, stadium and event operations, building operations, grounds, information technology, procurement and innovation. Murphy's strategic direction ensures coordination and alignment, which are integral to upholding the Chicago Bears' standard of excellence across the organization.
Throughout Murphy's 25-plus-year tenure with the Bears, Murphy most recently served as Senior Vice President of Business Strategy & Chief Financial Officer, helping to shape the organization's strategic direction while spearheading transformative initiatives. After joining the club in 1999 as a Controller, Murphy was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2002, before adding Senior Vice President of Business Strategy responsibilities in 2016. Over her time with the Bears, Murphy helped lead the execution of renovations at Soldier Field in 2003, as well as at Halas Hall in 2013 and 2019.
Murphy's visionary leadership has driven the club to leverage technology as a competitive advantage, integrating analytics into decision-making processes and prioritizing the recruitment, development and retention of world-class talent and systems.
Prior to joining the Bears in 1999, Murphy served as a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young Global Consulting Services (1993-97) before joining The Walt Disney Company in 1997 as a Corporate Management Senior Auditor.
Raised in Sun Prairie Wis., Murphy graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
