[1] Gore was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up there as well as in Washington, D.C.[2] When she was 11 years old, Karenna's mother, Tipper Gore, overheard her listening to Prince's song "Darling Nikki", which contained explicit lyrics, which inspired her mother to launch the Parents Music Resource Center, which sought to have "parental warning labels affixed to record albums that contained sexually explicit lyrics, portrayed excessive violence, or glorified drugs.

[14] She left that job to work in the non-profit sector as director of community affairs for the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), and as a volunteer in the legal center of Sanctuary for Families.

"[15] Based on the success of this conference, Gore founded the Center for Earth Ethics (CEE) at Union Theological Seminary the following year.

CEE "bridges the worlds of religion, academia, politics, and culture to discern and pursue the necessary changes to stop ecological destruction and create a society that values life.

[21][22] Gore has been heavily involved in climate activism, both in writing and direct action, including opposition to the construction of new pipelines and other infrastructure to support the fossil fuel industry.

[23] In June 2016, Gore was among 23 protesters who were arrested for demonstrating at the site of construction of a pipeline in Boston that would carry fracked gas for the Houston-based Spectra company.

[25] In 2021, on the 49th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, she published a guest essay in the Virginia Mercury in opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.