Karen Colin de Verdière is Deputy Head of the Agriculture, Rural Development and Biodiversity Division at the French Development Agency (AFD).

Karen has been working at AFD for nearly 20 years, holding a variety of operational positions related to biodiversity conservation projects. She has notably worked in several AFD country offices, including Madagascar, Mozambique, Tunisia, and, more recently, Colombia, where she served until July 2026 as Task Team Leader for Agriculture and Biodiversity sector for the Andean countries and the Amazon region.

Karen was born in the Paris’ Region in France and grew up in Lomé, Togo, before returning to Paris to pursue her studies, she’s an agronomist by training.