Karen Anderson

Karen Anderson is Managing Director of the Social Finance Institute, a platform launched within the national nonprofit Social Finance to advance outcomes-driven financing and impact-first investing that measurably improve economic mobility.

She brings more than 30 years of executive leadership experience across academia, government, the private sector, and nonprofits. Across these roles, she has consistently focused on bridging rigorous research, practical implementation, and policy impact. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Policy and Communications at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago, where she led efforts to translate and elevate the research of more than 150 economists to inform public policy and debate. She also served as Senior Advisor to Results for America, where she led Results for All, a global initiative focused on effective government practice. Earlier, Karen was part of the inaugural team that launched The Hamilton Project at Brookings, an economic policy initiative founded by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin to connect academic research to real-world policymaking and promote broad-based economic growth.

A veteran of two White Houses, Karen served as Chief of Staff of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama Administration and as a Regional Coordinator in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Clinton Administration. She also served in the private sector as Vice President of State and Local Government Relations at Citigroup.

Karen holds an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School and a B.A. in Economics from Agnes Scott College.