Ten Organizations Team Up on Guidelines for Combating Illegal Wildlife Trafficking
10 March 2024
Marine Link
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CEO corner
CEO corner
Azzedine Downes
President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare
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 in Jerusalem and Morocco and as the Acting Regional Director for the United States Peace Corps in Eurasia and the Middle East. In 2015, Fast Company named him one of the “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. Azzedine has been featured on the “Top 20 Visionary CEOs 2024” list by CEO Outlook Magazine.
A graduate of Providence College and Harvard University, Azzedine is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
Dive into exclusive updates and media coverage spotlighting IFAW's CEO & President, Azzedine Downes
Gray Whale, Long Absent From the Atlantic, Is Spotted Off Massachusetts
6 March 2024
New York Times
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Can wildlife roam freely and live harmoniously with humans?
26 December 2023
The Standard
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Assam: WTI-IFAW honoured by BTC for 20 years of service in the greater MANAS Landscape
15 December 2023
NorthEast India24
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Downes: We must coexist to save the North Atlantic right whale
11 December 2023
Daily State News
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Azzedine Downes, CEO & President, International Fund for Animal Welfare, A DotCom Magazine Interview
11 November 2023
DotCom Magazine
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Explore IFAW's CEO & President's insights firsthand, a curated collection of externally published op-eds offering a deeper perspective on crucial conservation matters
In wildlife conservation, wolves represent a crossroads
15 April 2024
Biodiversity Mag (p. 14)
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Harmony in the Wild
8 January 2024
Biodiversity Mag (p. 12)
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Beyond carbon: How wildlife can help mitigate climate change
2 October 2023
Biodiversity Mag (p. 12)
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Let’s ‘partner’ with wildlife
21 September 2023
Nation
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We can forge a new path of growth for human and wildlife
9 September 2023
The Standard
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The Essential Nature of Biodiversity
3 April 2023
Biodiversity Mag (p. 8)
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Get an insider's view offering a firsthand look at our organization's principles and perspectives, where IFAW's CEO & President shares internal op-eds on our website
5 August 2024
How we work with the Maasai community to give wildlife room to roam
8 December 2023
Confronting climate anxiety
18 September 2023
Restoring humanity in times of crisis
31 August 2023
Community-driven conservation: Forging a new path for people and wildlife
28 August 2023
The changing tides: Why are sharks increasingly approaching our shores?
22 June 2023
Social empowerment: the beginning to ending human-wildlife conflict
Do you have any questions for Azzedine? Please email AskAzzedine@ifaw.org.
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