Karen Wilson

Karen has been working with the OECD since 2009, where her work has focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and finance, including angel investing, venture capital, impact investing and the role of private finance for sustainable development.

Based in Europe for the past 12 years, she is also the founder of GV Partners, a firm created in 2004 to work with business start-ups, as well as initiatives to facilitate the development of a broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, including in the areas of finance, politics and business education. She is the author of numerous articles on these topics.

Since the inception of GV Partners, Karen has worked with private sector companies, international organizations, foundations, and universities. In addition to the Kauffman Foundation, he also works with the World Economic Forum on a global initiative Entrepreneurship Education, as well as with the OECD on high financing growth and business policy.

Prior to founding GV Partners, Karen worked with a leading venture capital firm. He has also worked as a Senior Fellow of the Kauffman Foundation. Previously, he was part of the senior management team at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, and prior to that, he served as Executive Director of Harvard Business School’s Global Initiative. His previous experience also includes management consulting, particularly in financial services as well as investment banking.

He received with honors, a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.