Mayada El-Zoghbi

Former Managing Director

A veteran and leader in financial inclusion, Mayada El-Zoghbi served as CFI’s Managing Director from September 2019 – May 2023. Mayada also worked as Lead for Strategy, Research & Development for CGAP, where 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.

Latest by Mayada El-Zoghbi

Report • Sep 25, 2023
Sending Cash Transfers to Women: How to Design Programs that Enhance Well- Being While Safeguarding Against Intimate Partner Violence
Blog Post • Jun 15, 2023
Ending the Cycle of Insanity: Responsible Finance in the Digital Age
Blog Post • Mar 02, 2023
A North Star or a Measurement Pulse? The role of financial health in inclusive finance
Blog Post • Dec 13, 2022
End-of-Year Reflections
Blog Post • Oct 13, 2022
Volatile Times Call for Sustained Resolve
Blog Post • May 05, 2022
Gender Norms On and Off the Farm: Engaging Smallholder Women in Finance and Climate-Smart Agriculture
Report • Apr 06, 2022
Platforms, Livelihoods, and Inclusive Finance
Blog Post • Mar 28, 2022
What Can COVID-19 Teach Us About the War in Ukraine? 5 Things to Remember
Blog Post • Mar 25, 2022
The Pandemic Wake-Up Call: Gender Norms Matter in Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Dec 16, 2021
Diffusion Theory, the S-Curve, and Why We Need to Go Beyond Inclusion
Blog Post • Oct 29, 2021
Promoting Prosperity in an Era of Uncertainty
Report • Jul 13, 2021
Normative Constraints to Women’s Financial Inclusion: What We Know and What We Need to Know
Blog Post • Dec 17, 2020
Have We Passed the Test? Reflections on the Test of a Lifetime
Blog Post • Oct 19, 2020
Financial Inclusion Week and My Emoji Roller Coaster Ride
Blog Post • Oct 12, 2020
Reflecting on the Past and Charting a New Direction
Report • Aug 05, 2020
Preserving Liquidity: Policymaker Responses to COVID-19 and the Impact on Low-Income Customers
Blog Post • Jul 23, 2020
Four Reflections on the COVID e-MFP Compass
Blog Post • Jun 08, 2020
COVID-19 Reveals the Limits of Individual Action and Market-Based Solutions
Podcast • May 01, 2020
Lend Academy Podcast: Episode 245 with Mayada El-Zoghbi
Blog Post • Apr 02, 2020
How Should FSPs Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Blog Post • Mar 27, 2020
Pandemics and Natural Disasters: What Can We Learn from Past Disasters to Help with Today’s Pandemic?
Blog Post • Mar 04, 2020
New Decade, New Focus Areas: CFI's Role in an Evolving Space
Blog Post • Feb 03, 2020
Financial Inclusion and Future Jobs: What the Market in Indonesia Tells Us
Blog Post • Jan 06, 2020
Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion: What Does the Global Microscope Tell Us?
Blog Post • Dec 17, 2019
Looking Back at 2019: a Transition, a New Initiative, Sharing Insights and Engaging Our Community
Event • Dec 17, 2019 - Dec 18, 2019
Global Refugee Forum
Blog Post • Nov 12, 2019
What’s in a Score? Reconciling Financial Access and Usage With the Microscope Rankings
Event • Oct 30, 2019 - Nov 1, 2019
FOROMIC 2019
Event • Nov 21, 2019 - Nov 22, 2019
European Microfinance Week 2019
Blog Post • Sep 10, 2019
Q and A with Mayada El-Zoghbi, CFI’s New Managing Director
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