Karen Vardanyan is the Chief Financial Officer at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), based in New York. An Armenian national, he brings 27 years of experience in finance, operations, and development, including 22 years with the United Nations and 5 years at the intersection of development and investments. Karen holds a PhD and a master’s degree from the State Engineering University of Armenia. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Diploma in Financial Management from the UK’s Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, as well as a Certification in Business and Financial Modelling from the Wharton School. His additional training includes HBS’s Foundations of Private Equity and Venture Capital, Techstars/Kauffman Fellows Venture Deals, Y Combinator’s Startup School, and the Founder Institute’s VC Lab.

Karen provides strategic leadership for UNCDF’s financial management. As a member of the Executive Team, he works closely with the Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and Executive Secretary to support UNCDF’s strategic vision and institutional growth.

Prior to joining UNCDF, Karen served for 8 years as Operations and Finance Advisor for UNDP’s Global Policy Network, where he led strategic budgeting, delivery, and reporting for an annual portfolio of $300 million. He previously held a series of finance and operations roles over 14 years with UNDP Armenia and conducted financial reviews for UN Women, UNCDF, and UNDP. In the private sector, Karen co-founded Creatella Impact, a development organization advancing capital flows to social entrepreneurs in emerging markets. He served as Co-Executive Director for 5 years, leading flagship programmes such as SheDisrupts, LauncHER, and SDG Venture Scaler. He also co-founded the Crimson Investment Fund, an early-stage investment fund, where he served on the Board for 5 years with a focus on risk management.