Ali specializes in non-profit management, international relations and environmental strategy with over 12 years of experience in fundraising, project management, government communications, strategic partnerships and business development. He possesses thorough expertise in the fields of sustainable development and trade, biodiversity, climate change, capacity building, government relations, PPP, humanitarian programs and SME finance.

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Through his work within the Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade and later with UNEP and UNDP in the last ten years, Ali has been involved in numerous sustainable development projects in Eastern and Western Africa, Latin America and the MENA region. With UN agencies and various international organizations, he has also led several projects to improve capacity-building, enterprise/SME development, agribusiness development, responsible finance and global trade in Africa and Latin America. Skilled with effective communication and diplomacy, Ali is also specialized in the establishment and coordination of networks of stakeholders at both an international and a multisectoral level, and created the first francophone network of ABS legal experts in West Africa. His keen understanding of local and regional priorities and sensible issues have also helped his partners secure numerous grants for select projects and organizations through effective fundraising with international donors. At Biodiversity COP14 in Egypt, the ABS Caravan initiative he launched in 2017 was selected as one of Morocco’s outstanding biodiversity activity in the last 25 years, on the quarter-century anniversary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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Among other responsibilities, Ali is also co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors for CAP Développement Durable, a Canadian NGO which specializes in youth empowerment and the involvement of young professionals in the fight against climate change. He is currently a PhD candidate in the field of environmental social studies, with his thesis focusing on biodiversity governance in Morocco.

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Ali is a scuba-diving enthusiast and football fanatic; on his free time, he is often found searching and planning for tropical destinations to explore or animating vigorous debates surrounding his favorite team.

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At SDI, Ali goes by the callsign @Jeffe.

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