Karen B. Johnson (May 12, 1942 – June 10, 2019) was an American politician and activist who served as the Mayor of Schenectady, New York, from 1983 to 1991. Johnson became the first woman to be elected to the Schenectady City Council in 1975 and the first female Mayor of Schenectady in 1983. She remains the first and only woman ever to serve as Schenectady's mayor in history.