Karen Clark, cofounder and chief executive of Karen Clark & Company, has been named to Forbes’ prestigious 2025 “50 Over 50” list, which honours women who are redefining what it means to be a leader and innovator.

The list, published annually by Forbes, celebrates trailblazers across sectors making significant impact into their 50s and beyond.

She shares the stage with Academy Award actress Halle Berry, brain warrior Maria Shriver and Nuveen chief investment officer Saira Malik, among others.

The star power of Ms Berry emerged as the Oscar-winner is one of America’s most outspoken advocates and entrepreneurs for women in menopause.

A leading global authority on catastrophe risk assessment and management, Ms Clark founded the first catastrophe modelling company in 1987 (AIR, acquired by ISO/Verisk in 2002) and is widely credited with creating the catastrophe modelling industry.

The probabilistic catastrophe modelling techniques and innovative technologies Ms Clark pioneered decades ago revolutionised the way insurers, reinsurers, and other financial institutions assess and manage extreme event risk.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be recognised among such an inspiring group of women,” said Ms Clark.

“From the start, my goal has been to build credible models that are able to accurately quantify the evolving risk landscape, first for tropical cyclones and earthquakes and more recently for wildfires, winter storms, floods, and severe convective storms. This recognition underscores the importance of continuing to innovate in the face of climate change and escalating global threats.”

In its profile of Ms Clark, Forbes highlighted her groundbreaking work helping businesses and policymakers in more than 50 countries assess hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, and other catastrophe risks.

In the US alone, KCC models are used to map more than $100 trillion in total risk exposure, helping insurers and reinsurers more effectively evaluate probabilities of insured losses.

Under Ms Clark’s leadership, KCC has advanced catastrophe modelling to a new level of accuracy and transparency. KCC developed the first open loss modelling platform, RiskInsight, as well as advanced tools for real-time event tracking and exposure management. All of KCC’s atmospheric peril models are climate-conditioned to incorporate past and future impacts of global warming.

Ms Clark has received numerous accolades throughout her career. The honours include the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services, Hall of Fame Innovation and Leadership Award in 2018, the International Insurance Society’s John S Bickley Founder’s Award in 2019, and an award certificate for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize bestowed on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for her contributions to the work of the IPCC since its inception.

Ms Clark has been named the fourteenth most influential person in the insurance industry over the past 30 years by Reactions magazine and the sixth most influential Living Legend by National Underwriter.

Ms Clark’s inclusion in the Forbes 50 Over 50 list reflects not only her pioneering legacy but also KCC’s continued role in delivering the industry’s most scientifically advanced, transparent, and climate-informed models. From helping clients quantify trillions of dollars in US risk exposure to enabling better decision-making in real time, KCC remains at the forefront of weather, climate, and catastrophe risk innovation.