As vice president of programs at REDF, Karen Chern oversees REDF’s programming focused on driving employment social enterprise (ESE) sustainability and worker mobility. In this role, she is responsible for the programming, resources, grant capital, and capacity building support that REDF offers its portfolio of ESE partners. She is also responsible for REDF’s data and learning teams.

Karen initially joined REDF as a Farber Fellow, helping a start-up enterprise grow and explore new business lines. The experience cemented her desire to continue to work with ESEs as a powerful way to connect talent back into the workforce. She was thrilled to return to REDF in 2013 as a full time staff member, and has worked hands-on with a wide variety of ESEs across different REDF programs ever since.

Prior to joining REDF, Karen was a consultant for a boutique consulting company, providing flexible analytics and scenario planning to R&D teams in life science companies. She graduated with a B.A. in economics from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where she was director of operations for the Social Venture Fund, the first student-led impact investing fund. Outside of work, you can find Karen enthusiastically but slowly skiing the slopes near her home in Salt Lake City, finding her cooking mojo again, and refereeing her two young sons’ endless unofficial wrestling matches.