About Karen Salvatore

Karen Salvatore is a wife, mother and citizen advocate. Karen and her husband Michael Salafia, have lived in North Kingstown for 19 years where they have raised their two sons, Michael Jr., and James Vincent (Javin.)

Karen is a successful citizen advocate with 37 years of experience in health, environment, and transportation issues. She is the founder of Food And Truth, a non-profit organization dedicated to inform, educate, motivate and organize people around food issues. She was the Executive Director for the John Hazen White Sr. Red Alert program which encouraged citizen awareness of issues and involvement in government. In 1990, Ms Salvatore founded DOT Watch, a citizen advisory group on transportation issues. She led a successful campaign to stop the construction of an interstate highway across southern Rhode Island, promoting instead a focus on mass transit alternatives including water transportation (high-speed ferry), and the Airport and Wickford train stations. For this work, the Ladies' Home Journal named Ms Salvatore Rhode Island's "Heroine of the Year" in 1991.

She ran for Rhode Island State Representative in 2004 and 2006 against the incumbent, Donald Lally.