Mayada El-Zoghbi

Mayada El-Zoghbi is a senior microfinance specialist and the manager of CGAP’s Donor and Investor Team, based in Paris. With over 16 years of experience in microfinance, El-Zoghbi brings operational, management, research, and funder advisory experience to CGAP. The Donor and Investor Team offers a series of products that support funders in their work including annual funding surveys on cross-border flows into microfinance, training for funder staff, the SmartAid Index, one-on-one advisory work with funders, and research and publications. El-Zoghbi oversees all work products of the team as well as serves as a core technical specialist on training, research, and the SmartAid Index. She is also a member of the CGAP Operational Management Team and Regional Manager for the Middle East and North Africa region.

Before joining CGAP, she founded and managed a development consulting firm for eight years, working with funding agencies such as the IFC and USAID. El-Zoghbi led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments including projects in Afghanistan, Egypt, Palestine, Sierra Leone, and other locations. She also served as a research director for a USAID knowledge management initiative on microfinance and conflict, where she authored numerous papers and facilitated many industry learning events. She supported the start-up and growth of MFIs in Palestine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

From 2006 to 2008, she was an adjunct associate professor at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) teaching courses on microfinance. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from SIPA at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota. She is bilingual in Arabic and English.