Karen Wilson

Karen Wilson

Associate Fellow


Saïd Business School
University of Oxford
Park End Street
Oxford
OX1 1HP

Profile

Karen has extensive global experience in finance, entrepreneurship and innovation, having worked with start-ups, foundations, international organisations and academic institutions.

 

Alongside her associate fellowship role at the School, she co-chairs the annual Oxford Entrepreneurship Policy Roundtable and lectures on impact investment on MBA and Executive Education programmes.

Karen is the Founder of GV Partners, a research and consulting firm focused on entrepreneurship, innovation and finance. She also works at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), specialising in venture capital, angel investment, impact investment, and finance for sustainable development.

Karen’s earlier roles included senior fellow at international think tank, Bruegel, and a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation. She was also part of the senior management team at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and previously the Executive Director of the Global Initiative at Harvard Business School. Her industry experience includes venture capital, investment banking and consulting.

Amongst her board and advisory roles, Karen serves on the Board of the European Venture Philanthropy Association and the Harvard Business School Impact Investment Alumni Steering Committee.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Mathematics and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

See further details of Karen’s career and professional expertise on LinkedIn.

Research

Karen has written and co-authored a range of papers and books on entrepreneurship, innovation, finance and impact investment, which have been published by the OECD, Bruegel, the World Economic Forum, Oxford, and the Journal of Financial Economics.

Her most recent OECD publication is Social Impact Investment: The Impact Imperative for Sustainable Development. Her earlier publications on impact investment, venture capital, angel investment, the financing of high-growth firms and entrepreneurship education can be found on the Social Science Research Network.

 

Teaching

Karen teaches entrepreneurial finance and impact investment and she lectures at various institutions, including Saïd Business School, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Sciences Po in Paris, and the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development in Geneva.