Mayada El-Zoghbi

A 20-year veteran and leader in financial inclusion, Mayada El-Zoghbi became CFI’s Managing Director in September 2019. She leads the vision and strategy for CFI, building on its strong foundation of innovative, industry-shaping work.

Mayada’s experience includes serving as lead for strategy, research and development for CGAP. In that role, she led CGAP’s strategy development and its research on women’s financial inclusion, financial services in crisis environments, and other emerging topics. Prior to this, she managed CGAP’s work with the donor and investor community based in Paris, France.

From 2002 to 2009, Mayada founded and managed a development consulting firm. She has also led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments, served as a research director for a USAID initiative, and lectured at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Mayada started her career working with several non-profit organizations establishing inclusive financial institutions in the Palestinian Territories, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo.

A dual national of Egypt and the U.S., Mayada is fluent in Arabic and English, and continues to work on improving her French.