Two trustees added to the RFI Foundation’s diverse and dynamic board
The Responsible Finance & Investment Foundation (RFI) is excited to announce the appointment of Inge Relph, Head of Sustainability & Strategic Relationships of the ERA Foundation, and Mounir Khouzami, Co-Founder and President of Swiss Arab Network, as trustees. Their appointment expands the RFI Foundation’s Board to 18 trustees, all with deep experience of Islamic finance, responsible investment, philanthropy and innovative technology.
Inge Relph is a systems thinker with a reputation for innovation coming from a corporate strategy and restructuring background. As senior policy advisor to The Elders and recently as Head of Sustainability for a Swiss Fintech, she brings a depth of experience in embedding the SDG's and environmental goals in new ways. A champion for responsible finance and investment and advisor to a number of Funds, Inge regularly contributes to global dialogues and G20 consultations on the disruptive role of blockchain in better addressing global financial risks. Having lived and worked in the Middle East and as a founding Board member of the Arab International Women's Forum, she sees ready synergy between the objectives of Islamic finance, Responsible Investment and distributed ledger technology.
As facilitator of numerous international interfaith dialogues including the annual high level Global Foundation Summit at the Vatican, Inge says: "the collective power of faith -led financing to mobilize and drive beneficial and inclusive change from the bottom up is poorly understood but should not be underestimated. The global dialogue and collaborative network the RFI fosters can help bring this to fruition and aligns with their vision for finance as a force for good. It is an honour to be asked to serve on the Board".
Mounir Khouzami is an intercultural bridge builder with a background in strategy, innovation, change management and banking. His engagements are driven by the conviction that “there are too many walls and not enough bridges”. This is why Mounir initiated, co-founded and presides over the Swiss Arab Network (SAN), an international NGO striving to bridge gaps, promote sustainable exchange and intensify mutual understanding among Swiss and Arab people. He is also initiator of numerous initiatives and partnerships with other like-minded organizations and government institutions.
A key initiative together with the RFI Foundation, was the organization of the Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Summit 2017 and 2018 in Zurich, Switzerland. Mounir says: “SAN and RFI have the same visionary purpose, in which two different financial systems/cultures are brought together by working from the commonalities instead of the differences. That vision connects us and was the source of our successful partnership in the last two years. I am looking forward to further intensifying my work with RFI and it is an honour to join the Board.”
In addition to his role as Co-Founder and President of Swiss Arab Network, Mounir has spent the past decade driving strategic initiatives within the wealth management industry for UBS, Wave Stone Consulting and Merrill Lynch. Topics range from digital banking, organizational health, market access to sustainable and impact investing. He has a diploma in strategy and innovation from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, a diploma of advanced studies in banking from the University of Bern and Rochester and a Bachelor's degree in business administration with a specialization in nonprofit organisations from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
Dr. Mohd. Daud Bakar, a member of the RFI Foundation Board of Trustees since the organisation’s inception, has retired from the board to focus on his other pursuits after serving for 3 years. He will remain involved with the RFI Foundation in an advisory capacity. The Board thanks him for his contribution to the RFI Foundation’s development.
Blake Goud, CEO of the RFI Foundation commented: “I am excited to welcome Inge and Mounir to the RFI Foundation Board of Trustees and I am confident their experience will be a significant asset to our future development as an organization.”
Goud continued: “In order to continue to succeed in raising awareness, promoting research and encouraging convergence within responsible finance, we have to be able to understand many different perspectives from across responsible finance. This includes having a Board that is diverse in experience, age and gender, and I am proud to see that the Board of Trustees have embraced this as a priority.”
