Kara Gustafson, Director

Kara Gustafson is a founding member of Finpublica’s board.  She brings over two decades of experience in Corporate Responsibility, Philanthropy, ESG, DEI, and Community Engagement. Kara has created and led best-in-class global impact initiatives across a $2 billion portfolio of programs that have driven transformative results in the public, private and non-profit sectors through her work as an impact executive at Goldman Sachs, the Aspen Institute, and SoulCycle.

Most recently, Kara served as the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Finance Leaders Fellowship where she was responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day management of the Fellowship. During her tenure she co-founded the Aspen Institute FLF-ESG Impact Exchange, a forum for dialogue and action on ESG-related issues for senior finance executives.

Prior to the Aspen Institute, Kara founded Palais Impact Advisors, a social impact strategic advisory firm to Fortune 500 and late-stage growth companies to connect their business strategies to greater good. She also served as Head of Community Impact at SoulCycle. Kara previously spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs where she held several leadership roles, including being a founding member of the team who launched and scaled its signature philanthropic initiatives – 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses – to drive economic growth, inclusion and opportunity through the firm’s Impact Investing Business and Corporate Engagement programs.

Kara earned a BA in English from Fairfield University.  She currently serves as Chair of the Dolan School of Business Management Program’s Advisory Council at Fairfield University. She served as a Director on the board of Paid Leave for the United States, which campaigned to win paid family and medical leave for every working person in the U.S.  In 2019 Kara began hosting and producing “Impact Studies with Kara Gustafson,” a leading social impact video podcast.