Ali Hijazi

"My story with Economic Growth and Economic Development started in 2006 when I had my first job in Microfinance. CISCO funded my first Credit $100,000 Portfolio to 64 non-bankable Entrepreneurs, who lost their businesses following the war in South Lebanon." Hijazi is currently the Financial Inclusion Director- Deputy Chief of Party for LIFE "Livelihoods Inclusive Finance Expansion" program funded by the USAID and implemented by The Palladium Group International. Before joining The Palladium Group, he performed a short assignment with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR; as Private Sector Partnerships Associate for the Middle East and North Africa, his role was limited to fundraising with the private sector. From 2011 to 2016, Hijazi was the Microcredit Program Manager for ADR "The Association for the Development of Rural Capacities," a Lebanese non-profit organization where manages a diversified portfolio funded through organization's equity, International donors, and Investors such as AUDI Bank, BLC, and others. He was also responsible for drafting and implementing business plans, proposals, and budgets for the organization. Mr. Hijazi was a former partner for Hijazi Consulting and Auditing LACPA firm where he was overseeing the business development services. In 2007 and he was a Senior Researcher Assistant, Surveyor, and Interviewer with the Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) of NDU as well as the Carthage Center for Research and Information (CCRI) where he worked on several Economic Development, Refugees Crisis and Lebanese Diaspora projects. In 2009, Mr. Hijazi was awarded by LERC-NDU and by USAID Mission Director Denise Herbol for successfully managing a project aiming to engage the Lebanese Diaspora in Sustainable Local Economic Development. Between 2007 and 2012, He worked with Relief International a US Based Organization where he managed various Microcredit Programs funded through different donors and organizations among them CISCO and USAID. In April 2011, he organized and led a conference on the Lebanese Microcredit Sector and ICT Lending funded by CISCO and sponsored by the Lebanese Central Bank "BDL" and RI at USEK. In 2009, he founded with a group of young students, (SEFD) South Entrepreneurs for Development funded through a grant received from USAID-Chemonics. Ali Hijazi holds an M.B.A in Auditing and Finance from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Lebanon. In 2012 he accomplished his thesis with distinction, tackling the microcredit industry in Lebanon. He participated in several regional and international economics and microfinance conferences, and he is collaborating as well with several magazines and newspapers on researches and articles on Economic Growth and Microfinance in Lebanon.