David Paulson is FIF’s Global Chief Risk and Compliance Officer. He has twenty-five years of experience in risk management, compliance, internal controls and audit in the financial services industry and international NGOs. David has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, and Europe, in addition to the US. He manages the network-level second-line functions of Risk Management, Compliance, and Security & Resilience for FINCA.

David first joined FINCA in 2007 as a financial analyst and then launched the global internal control function across the FINCA network before leaving in late 2009. He rejoined FINCA in 2023 as Global Chief Risk and Compliance Officer and joined the Global Leadership Team in 2025.

In the intervening years, he served as the Director of Risk Management for an international NGO, The Group Head of Risk Management and Internal Audit for a microfinance network, and the Head of Risk and Compliance for a mobile financial service provider in Asia. David holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.