Karen Harris

CFO & Head, Mission-Related Investing at The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Speaker

Karen Harris is a member of the ADDF’s executive team and serves as its Chief Financial Officer and Head of Mission Related Investments.

With a CFO background that spans both non-profits and investment banking, Ms. Harris is committed to increasing transparency and accessibility of complex financial information and heightening organizational effectiveness with robust financial governance, strategic planning, policies, controls, and training. She regularly presents to the ADDF’s Boards of Governors and Overseers, launched a board-level Finance and Audit Committee, and oversees the organization’s banking relationships. As Head of Mission Related Investments, Ms. Harris has also structured and stewarded dozens of venture-based investments for the ADDF, and she manages and monitors its extensive portfolio of securities and royalty arrangements with universities and biotech companies.

Previously, Ms. Harris served as Chief Financial Officer for the East Harlem Tutorial Program and Director of Development at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. She also led a career in the financial sector for 20+ years prior to her transition to non-profit leadership. Among other roles, Ms. Harris served as Global COO for global equity capital markets, a $1 billion dollar division with 190 bankers at UBS, and as a Director and investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She earned an MBA in Finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business, graduating first in her class, and a BA in Economics from Columbia University.