Title: Chief Privacy Officer
Company: Levi Strauss & Co.
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Karen McGee, Chief Privacy Officer at Levi Strauss & Co., has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers for dedication, achievements and leadership in Data Protection, Cybersecurity Legal and Artificial Intelligence.
Ms. McGee has established herself as a leading authority in data protection, cybersecurity legal matters, and artificial intelligence (AI) governance, with a career spanning over 25 years. Her expertise is widely recognized for its depth and breadth, particularly in aligning regulatory requirements with strategic business objectives and embedding privacy into innovation-driven environments.
Since 2019, Ms. McGee has served as the chief privacy officer at Levi Strauss & Co., where she provides strategic counsel to senior leaders across business units. In this capacity, she handles escalations of privacy concerns and incidents, monitors evolving legislation and designs implementation strategies responsive to new regulatory demands. Ms. McGee regularly presents to the board and executive leadership, ensuring that privacy posture and risk remediation strategies are clearly communicated at the highest levels. Additionally, as the chief Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy officer for the company’s self-insured program, she has developed comprehensive training initiatives and hosts privacy-focused events to foster ongoing upskilling on emerging technologies, such as generative AI.
Ms. McGee’s tenure at Levi Strauss & Co. is marked by her leadership in developing the organization’s first enterprise-wide global privacy and AI governance program. She established a multiyear strategy to achieve full program maturity, implemented both internal and third-party assessments and transitioned the company from country-based policies to a regional model with supplemental notices for personnel, candidates and suppliers. Notably, Ms. McGee founded the AI governance working group and sits on its steering committee, where she recently led the development of a cross-functional governance structure for generative AI. This initiative brought together diverse stakeholders to evaluate emerging use cases, define operating principles that combine ethical and legal requirements, and design approval workflows that enable responsible innovation.
From 2016 to 2019, Ms. McGee was a managing counsel for privacy legal at Intel Corporation. There, she led a global legal team advising on privacy, AI governance, emerging technologies and cybersecurity. She managed General Data Protection Regulation readiness across a 35-member global compliance team and streamlined privacy policies from 46 to 10. Ms. McGee collaborated with government policy leaders on model U.S. federal privacy legislation and contributed to responsible AI policy development through Intel’s AI working committee.
Briefly employed by LifeLock, Inc., in 2015, Ms. McGee was influential in her role as the company’s chief privacy officer, directing enterprise-wide privacy, compliance and risk-mitigation strategies for the consumer technology business. She regularly presented data risk matters to the board and audit committee, counseled executive leadership on regulatory investigations and cybersecurity compliance, and led ethics investigations supporting ISO 27001 and PCI DSS audits.
Between 2013 and 2015, Ms. McGee served as the general counsel and privacy officer at ID Analytics LLC following its acquisition by LifeLock Inc. She previously spent a year as the associate general counsel at LifeLock, Inc., in 2012, providing broad legal counsel during a period of rapid growth in technology-driven consumer services.
Ms. McGee’s earlier career included more than a decade at APL Ltd., starting in 2000 as an associate general counsel. During this tenure, she gained extensive expertise in areas such as maritime litigation, technology contracting, e-commerce law, intellectual property management and government contracting. Notably, Ms. McGee introduced APL Ltd.’s inaugural global privacy program based on the European Data Directive framework while managing intellectual property portfolios and leading negotiations for U.S. Department of Defense contracts.
Before transitioning into in-house roles that would shape her expertise in technology law, Ms. McGee focused her practice on maritime litigation. Hired as an associate at Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin Hansen & Poulos LLP in 1997, she learned the complexities of this particular area of law while strengthening her litigating skills.
Ms. McGee’s academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Arts in history, literature and political science, with honors, from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. During her undergraduate studies, she completed an independent thesis that combined American history, ethnic studies, literature and political science. This multidisciplinary approach has informed her ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes throughout her career. Additionally, Ms. McGee acquired a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of San Francisco in 1997, which prepared her for a successful career in law.
In addition to her formal education, Ms. McGee was admitted to practice by the California Bar Association, the California Supreme Court, all the California District Federal Courts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She also maintains credentials as a certified information privacy professional in the United States and Europe and holds designations from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Beyond her corporate roles, Ms. McGee’s commitment to professional development has included active participation in industry organizations, including membership in the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation, and serving as a member and co-chair of the IAPP’s Phoenix chapter since 2010. Civically, Ms. McGee has served on the board of directors for Southwest Human Development since 2017. She also participates on the board of a local equestrian organization in Arizona, supports both the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the Alzheimer’s Association, and, among other affiliations, founded the North Carolina chapter of the Young Survival Coalition.
In recognition of her achievements, Ms. McGee has received several accolades, including recognition as an In-House Legal Adviser of the Year by the Women in Law Awards and an Ethics & Compliance Excellence Award from Intel Corporation’s legal division. Eager for future success, she is pursuing the AI governance professional credential to advance her career in this sector.
Ms. McGee’s approach to data protection is distinguished by its practicality and creativity. She is most proud of designing programs that reflect the nature of the business, the type of data involved, company objectives and future aspirations while emphasizing that privacy-by-design serves as a business enabler. Ms. McGee remains dedicated to advancing conversations around data trust within organizations, believing it is essential for companies to demonstrate their commitment to protecting customer information. Throughout her distinguished career, she has demonstrated openness to new experiences, adaptability during periods of uncertainty, continuous learning, and genuine care for client objectives, all qualities that have propelled her success as one of today’s foremost leaders in privacy law, data protection, cybersecurity, legal strategy and AI governance.
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