Fawzia Naqvi

Advisor to the Board

M.A: The School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University B.A. International Relations: Mount Holyoke College

Fawzia has 16 years of expertise making impact investments which advance social and economic justice. She is currently an independent consultant advising Foundations on using impact investment tools in service of their mission.

From 2006 to 2016 Fawzia was Vice President of Soros Economic Development Fund, the impact investment vehicle of Open Society Foundations where she had prime shareholder responsibility for SEDF’s investment portfolio in India, Aspada and SONG funds, as well as a fund investment in Mexico, IGNIA Fund. She also had prime responsibility for SEDF’s investment in Leapfrog, a global financial services and micro-Insurance fund

While at OSF, Fawzia co-founded Open Society Foundation funded economic policy think tank in Pakistan called Institute for Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS). She is currently an Advisor to its board and leadership. At Open Society Foundation Fawzia was part of a strategy team which created a new Economic Advancement Program. She continued her work with OSF as a consultant/advisor to other program teams wishing to use impact investment tools to advance their mission.

Fawzia also worked with Women’s World Banking for five years as a Microfinance expert with responsibility for Asia. Prior to joining WWB in 2000, Fawzia spent ten years with Citibank in New York, where she worked for the Financial Institutions Group for Emerging Markets, Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Fawzia is a member of the investment committee for i2i Venture Fund, the first women founded VC in Pakistan which makes early stage investments in technology enabled start ups. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Katalyst Labs a technology start up accelerator based in Karachi, Pakistan. In addition, Fawzia is a mentor/advisor to several start-up entrepreneurs and investors evaluating the eco-system in Pakistan.

In 2020 Fawzia was invited by Medicins San Frontières (MSF) to become a member of the Selection Committee for Transformation Investment Capacity (TIC) at MSF.