Azzedine DOWNES

Azzedine T. Downes, President & CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

As President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) since 2012 and since joining the organization in 1997 as its Executive Vice President, Azzedine Downes, has worked closely with experts and decision makers from around the world, leading a groundbreaking period of geographic expansion and strategic consolidation. 

Influencing international policies to create positive change on the ground, Azzedine led the signing of a historic lease agreement with a Maasai community near Amboseli National Park in Kenya, securing 16,000 acres of habitat for elephants, while helping to establish a first-of-its-kind cooperative framework between IFAW and INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Program. 

Before joining IFAW, Azzedine served as the Chief of Party for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jerusalem and Morocco and was appointed by President Clinton as Acting Regional Director for the United States Peace Corps in Eurasia and the Middle East. In 2015, Fast Company named him one of “The Most 100 Creative People in Business,” and he has been listed among The Nonprofit Times’s “Power and Influence Top 50.” 

Named to the prestigious Council for Hope of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation in 2023, Azzedine joins a group of prominent global thought and business leaders committed to using their influence to improve the world around us. His first book, a personal memoir entitled The Couscous Chronicles, was released in 2023.

A graduate of Providence College and Harvard University, Azzedine is fluent in Arabic, English, and French, becoming a member of The Explorers Club in 2024.