Welcome to my Press Page!  Hopefully you’ll find this information useful if you want to quote me or hire me or just know more about what I’ve done in the past.

Short Bio

Dr. Karen Rayne provides advice and support to parents on how to educate their children and teenagers about sex and sexuality.  Karen’s knowledge about adolescent development and education provides her with a solid background for guiding parents through these tricky conversations.  She also moonlights as a sex educator for children and adults. Recently, she authored Breaking the Hush Factor: Ten Rules for Talking with Teenagers about Sex.

Long Bio

Dr. Karen Rayne has been working in education for the past two decades with an expertise in sexuality education. Her PhD is in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on ethics education and the choices that adolescent mothers make. She began working in sexuality education in 2008 by providing comprehensive sexuality education classes for middle school students and human sexuality classes for college students through Psychology departments.

Dr. Rayne is passionate about providing comprehensive sexuality education to people of all ages and stages with sensitivity and a touch of humor. She founded Unhushed in order to expand her educational reach and to open family conversations about sexuality in the home. In addition to providing direct sexuality education to teenagers and adults, Dr. Rayne writes curriculum and trains sexuality educators in order to expand their skills.

Dr. Rayne provides service to the larger field of sexuality education as chair of the National Sex Ed Conference and Associate Editor of the American Journal for Sexuality Education. Providing leadership in expanding social justice and racial equity in sexuality education is a primary focus of her work among her professional colleagues.

Dr. Rayne most recent book, Breaking the Hush Factor: Ten rules for talking with teenagers about sex, is designed to support all adults as they interact with young people grappling with their emerging understanding of identity and sexuality. The rules are concrete in order to support a clear process of self-evaluation and support for the adult, and distinct ways of engaging in conversation with teenagers. In 2015, Dr. Rayne was the chief editor of How I Got Into Sex…Ed, an anthology of more than sixty-first person essays by sexuality educators. The anthology includes professions brand new to the field to those who are well known and admired, including the former Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders. Her article on adolescents, sexuality, and linguistics was also recently published in The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality.

Dr. Rayne has a number of projects she is currently working on. She is finishing two parent-child communication curricula, one for the Unitarian Universalist Association and one in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health. The Unitarian Universalist curriculum targets parents of middle school age students while the Zimbabwean curriculum is directed towards families including 10 – 21 year olds. Dr. Rayne’s on-going curricular writing includes co-editing a new lesson manual on educating about sexual orientation, co-authoring a comprehensive sexuality curriculum for the organization Girls, Inc., and editing a new edition of Streetwise to Sex-wise for educating teens in high-risk environments. Beyond curriculum writing, Dr. Rayne is continuing to partner with Sam Killermann as an educational performer providing support and information for adults in their show S.E.X.: An evening of laughing, learning, and lasciviousness.

When at home in Austin, Texas, Dr. Rayne enjoys time with her two daughters, her partner, and her three dogs. On the rare occasions that she breaks away from working in sexuality education and spending time with her family, Dr. Rayne enjoys country western and swing dancing, traveling, and spending time with friends.

Ongoing Work

• Associate Editor for the American Journal of Sexuality Education (since 2014)
• Chair for the National Sex Ed Conference (since 2015)
• Sex educator for private middle school and high school classes (since 2008)
• Sex educator for parents (since 2008)
• Editor of the Sex Ed Network (since 2013)
• Co-creator and moderator of The Belly Project (since 2010)
• Academic Advisory Board Member for TAKING SIDES: Clashing Views in Gender and TAKING SIDES: Clashing Views in Human Sexuality (since 2011)
• International Partner for Eagles Youth Development Group, a pro-Youth, anti-HIV advocacy nonprofit in Uganda (since 2012)
• Our Whole Lives Trainer for grades 7 – 9 and 10 – 12 facilitators (since 2013)

Current Projects

• Editing a new edition of Streetwise to Sex-wise, A comprehensive model for teaching teens who are in high-risk environments
• Co-authoring a new manual of lessons and activities on sexual orientation, Orientation: Teaching about identity, attraction, and behavior 
• I have been offered the position of Sexuality Education and Training Specialist with the Center for Sex Education

Past Speaking Engagements and Other Work

2015

• Author, Breaking the Hush Factor: Ten rules for talking with teenagers about sex
• Presented at the following schools/organizations/conferences:
  • Iowa LGBT Governor’s Conference
  • St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
  • St. Stephen’s Episcopal School
  • The Black Families, Black Relationships, Black Sexuality Conference
    
  • The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality Annual Meeting
    
• Wrote curriculum with the following organizations:
  • Center for Sex Education
  • Girls, Inc.
  • United Nations Population Fund
  • Unitarian Universalist Association
  • Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Care

2014

• Editor-in-Chief, How I Got Into Sex…Ed
• Adjunct professor at Austin Community College (2008 – 2014) and University of Maryland University College (2010 – 2014)
• Co-chair for the National Sex Ed Conference
• Presented at the following schools/organizations/conferences:
  • Breakthrough Austin
  • St. Stephen’s Episcopal School
  • St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
  • Whole Life Learning Center
  • Skybridge Academy
  • New York City Department of Health Office of School Health

2013

• Co-chair for the National Sex Ed Conference
• Author of the Instructor’s Manual for TAKING SIDES: Clashing Views in Human Sexuality
• Primary presenter at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School‘s 7th grade sexuality education program
• Invited speaker for Breakthrough Austin‘s annual conference
• Presenter at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School‘s 8th and 10th grade sexuality education programs

2012

• Authored National Coming Out Day post on Equality Texas’s blog
• Primary presenter at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School‘s 7th grade sexuality education program
• Invited speaker for Breakthrough Austin‘s annual conference
• Online educational product development for McGraw-Hill’s Human Sexuality textbook

2011

• Primary author of Human Sexuality Activities, a chapter from volume 2 of the American Psychological Association’s e-book Promoting Student Engagement
• Presenter for Campus Outreach Services
• Keynote speaker for Oregon Adolescent Sexuality Conference
• Invited speaker for iChoose Austin
• Invited speaker for GENaustin‘s We Are Girls! conference
• Invited speaker for Breakthrough Austin‘s annual conference

2010

• Invited speaker at Rawson-Saunders School
• Presenter at SXSW Interactive
• Host for iChoose Austin
• Guest on Kink On Tap (listen to episode 45)
• Invited speaker for GENaustin‘s We Are Girls! conference

2009

• Invited Sexpert on Irish radio RedFM show Sexually Speaking
• Presenter at the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women
• Authored piece published on Scarleteen.com
• Interviewed by Reign of the Girl-Child
• Presenter at SXSW Interactive
• Our Whole Lives teacher at Wildflower Unitarian Universalst Church, Austin

2008

• Phoenix House Austin
• Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, Austin
• Austin Waldorf School’s Second Grade Parents’ Meeting
• Texas Council on Family Relations Annual Conference
• Adolescent sexuality expert interview for Mona Lisa Production.  Documentary released in 2009.
• Blossom Family Center guest speaker on parent sexuality
• Editor of the Personal sections of Blog Nosh Magazine

2007

• Guest speaker on Rev. Chuck Freeman’s radio show Soul Talk
• American Educational Research Association Annual Conference
• Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas

2006

• American Educational Research Association Annual Conference

2004

• University of Texa