New Chair announced for British Heart Foundation’s Board of Trustees

KAREN Frank has been announced as the British Heart Foundation’s new Chair of its Board of Trustees and will start in the role immediately. 

Karen has been a member of the BHF’s Board of Trustees since October 2019 and Acting Chair since the end of 2023. 

Karen brings extensive leadership and business experience to the role, having led several global businesses over a 30-year career. Most recently Karen was the Global Head of Equities and Executive Director for the Sovereign Wealth Fund, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, and prior to that, she was CEO of Barclays’s Global Private Bank. Karen’s career has also seen her hold senior leadership roles at leading businesses including Goldman Sachs, where she was Managing Director, as well as various private equity institutions in the US and London. 

Furthermore, Karen has a strong track record in supporting charitable activities, having held Chair and Board positions with organisations including The Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Old Vic.   

Karen said:

“I am delighted to be taking on the role of Chair at this pivotal time in the British Heart Foundation’s history – an organisation I have a deep personal connection to.

“From my experience on the Board, I’ve seen firsthand that the BHF is one of the UK’s most respected charities and is doing phenomenal work in offering hope and support to millions of families in desperate need of breakthroughs. 

“The BHF is a very special organisation with a huge ambition to accelerate progress for people with heart and circulatory diseases. Working with the Board, Charmaine, and the BHF’s exceptional team, I’m determined to help the charity turn this ambition into reality, so we cultivate the support needed to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge science that saves and improves lives.” 

Karen has been a long-term supporter of the BHF and recently completed the charity’s flagship London to Brighton bike ride with a team of leading figures including Sir Patrick Vallance, which raised nearly £30,000. 

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the BHF, said: 

 “I am thrilled that Karen will become BHF’s next Chair of our brilliant Board of Trustees at a key time for the BHF. Karen’s global experience and Board leadership will be invaluable as we set our strategy to shape BHF’s future and raise our ambitions in an era of unprecedented challenges and opportunity.  As with so many of us in the BHF team, her family’s experience of heart and circulatory diseases also means that our work is deeply personal, and I am grateful for her generous leadership and support to make a difference for others.” 

The BHF is the nation’s heart charity and the UK’s largest independent funder of cardiovascular research. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, partners and customers it has funded breakthroughs that have transformed heart care and helped save countless lives over the last 60 years. However, with heart and circulatory diseases remaining the world’s biggest killers, and with more than 7.6 million people living with these conditions in the UK, the charity says urgent research is needed to save and improve more lives.