Financial Services and Humanitarian Crisis

Mayada El-Zoghbi is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist leading CGAP’s strategy, research and development unit. She also leads CGAP’s research on women’s financial inclusion, financial services in crisis environments and other emerging topics. Before joining CGAP, Mayada founded and managed a development consulting firm working with funding agencies such as the IFC and USAID. She led numerous technical assistance, evaluation and research assignments and 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. Prior to this, she supported the start-up and growth of financial institutions 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. Mayada 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.

Olivier Mahul is Global Lead and Program Manager of the Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program, a joint program between the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Since he joined the World Bank in 2003, Olivier has been involved in developing disaster risk financing and insurance solutions in more than 40 countries including Colombia, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia, India, Mexico and the Philippines. He was closely involved in the product development of the World Bank CAT DDO, a contingent credit line that provides World Bank member countries with immediate budget support in the aftermath of natural disasters. He is one of the key architects of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, which provides 16 Caribbean island states with parametric insurance against major natural disasters. He has also co-led the establishment of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Program, which provides 5 Pacific island countries with parametric catastrophe insurance. Olivier holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Toulouse School of Economics and post-doctorates from Wharton Business School and University of California at Berkeley.

Thea Anderson leads Mercy Corps’ work in financial services in protracted crisis. Mercy Corps is a global development and humanitarian organization operating in over 40 countries. Previously, she was Mercy Corp’s Director for Financial Inclusion and is accomplished in financial inclusion and digital financial services. She also managed the agency’s technical team on electronic cash transfers in humanitarian response, and oversees partnerships with corporations, social enterprises and technology companies. She has experience working across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, including 10 years of field-based management in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. Thea holds a B.A. from Guilford College, M.Ed. from Harvard University, and MBA from Oxford University.

Nadine Chehade is CGAP's representative in the Arab world. She works to deepen CGAP’s engagement in the region, collaborating with various partners, including regulators, policy-makers, donors, investors and national and regional associations. She covers matters related to policy, research and donor coordination with the overarching goal of advancing financial inclusion. She joined CGAP in 2012, bringing ten years of experience in investment banking, management consulting and microfinance. Prior to that, she worked as Planet Rating’s Business Development Manager and Middle East and North Africa Director. Nadine holds an MBA from ESSEC in France. She is fluent in Arabic, English, French and conversational in Spanish.