The Independent Integrity Unit (IIU) is pleased to welcome Karen Ernst as the new Head. Her first day was on 1 June. She was selected during the 35th meeting of the GCF Board, 13 to 16 March 2023, following a comprehensive global recruitment process. 
 
Before joining IIU, Karen was with SOS Children’s Villages International, where she was the International Director of Integrity, Compliance & Legal and part of the organisation’s extended executive leadership team. In her role, she successfully headed the integrity and asset safeguarding functions and strengthened good governance within the SOS Children’s Villages Federation.

Prior to SOS Children’s Villages, she held different legal roles in the fields of anti-fraud, anti-corruption, anti-harassment and international technical and scientific collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).      
  
Karen holds various law degrees, including a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Legal Studies, First and Second State/Bar Examinations in Law, as well as an Executive Master in Public Administration. 
 
“I am honoured and excited to have been selected by the Board of the Green Climate Fund as the new Head of the Independent Integrity Unit,” she said. “I look forward to working with the IIU Team and continue implementing integrity in all areas of the Fund’s mission and ensuring that we all live by the principles of good stewardship and the Fund’s values for the benefit of the recipients of the Fund’s support.”