Karrah Herring, J.D.
Indiana's Chief Equity, Inclusion & Opportunity Officer
Karrah (Miller) Herring is a native and resident of South Bend, IN and a proud graduate of the South Bend Community School Corporation. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Public Relations from Purdue University (’05) and her Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law (’11). On November 19, 2020, Indiana governor, Eric Holcomb announced his appointment of Karrah to his cabinet as Indiana’s first-ever Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer for the state. In this role, she worked with the governor and his team to improve state government operations as well as remove hurdles in the government workplace and services the state provides. During the foundational phase of the office, Karrah engaged with over 300 stakeholders, built the infrastructure of the office, and in conjunction with other agencies rolled out the State of Indiana's first ever Equity Data Portal. Her team's work focused on growing statewide access and opportunity in education and economic development and enhancing employee experiences within Indiana state government’s executive branch.
Prior to joining Governor Holcomb's team, Karrah worked for the University of Notre Dame for nearly a decade and served as the Director of Public Affairs in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. Prior to her role with Public Affairs, she served on the University of Notre Dame’s Office of Human Resources Senior Executive Leadership team as the Director of the Office of Institutional Equity and University Title IX Coordinator.
Karrah has received a number of awards and recognition and serves on various boards and commissions. Mayor James Mueller of the City of South Bend, IN, honored Karrah with the “Key to the City.” Karrah’s Alma Mater, Purdue University honored her as a 2022 College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumna. She was named to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s prestigious Forty leaders under 40 2022 list and IBJ's inaugural 250 most influential leaders 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2021, the South Bend Regional Chamber named her their 2021 Woman of Influence. In October of 2021, the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, Justice Rush, asked Karrah to serve as the executive branch’s representative on the Indiana Supreme Court’s Commission on Equity and Access within Indiana Courts. Karrah not only served on the commission but also chaired the subcommittee within the commission which examined pathways to the legal profession’s bench and bar for historically underrepresented groups. She is also a member of the Center for Digital Government’s Digital Equity Advisory Committee, the NASHP Population and Public Health Steering Committee, a member of the Board of Governors for the Indiana Economic Club and she a member of the Board of Directors for Sunz Insurance and Sunz Holdings LLC (Bradenton, Florida).
Karrah is married to Ray Herring (graduate of the University of Notre Dame ’09) and they have three children, Bryce, Brianna and Ja’Mari.
