Association of Moroccan
Professionals in America

Karim Sijlamassi

Karim is a Senior Designer with 5+ Design Architects, a international Architectural firm with projects in the US, Russia, China and the Middle East. Karim was instrumental in designing and executing a number high-rise and retail projects in Los Angeles, Chongqing, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE. Prior to joining 5+ Design, Karim held a project manager's position at Robertson Partners Architects were he designed and managed two sixty story high-rise condominium towers in downtown Los Angeles. Karim earned a masters degree in Architecture and Urban Design with honors from l'Ecole d'Architectue de Montpellier in France. He is a licensed Architect in France, Morocco and soon the US. Karim is very excited to be a part of the AMPA team and looks forward to helping the organization grow its membership and its relevance to the growing business ties between the United States and Morocco.

Bouchra Adyel

Bouchra has been an active AMPA member since she joined a few years ago. Bouchra works as a Systems Analyst II at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She provides skilled analysis of business and management problems to maximize efficient use of the Pharmacy Informatics applications and Robots. She is a member of HIMS (Health Information Management & Systems). Prior to that, Bouchra was a Project Manager at an International Design Company in Houston. She has an MBA in International Business and a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Houston. She was elected President of the Chapter Association and appointed Chapter Advisor at the University of Houston. Bouchra's community leadership includes Habitat for Humanity, Children's Miracle Network, working with the Red Cross during Hurricane Katrina, and representing Moroccan women in the US at the Council of Moroccan Community Abroad conferences "I've enjoyed being a part of the AMPA Management team for the past two years and met so many accomplished Moroccans. With a dynamic team and a supportive board, we were able to get closer to our members, organize key events such as the NYC fundraiser, the CSSF Press Conference, Moroccan American Bridges, and for the first time the networking events in 8 cities. I am very honored with my nomination as Vice President and look forward to the next two years. We have a very dedicated and energized team, but count on our members' involvement to make the Future of AMPA even more successful. I've been receiving a lot of feedback/suggestions and we'll make sure we tailor our plan to fit your needs, so keep them coming! " said Bouchra.
Bouchra can be reached at adyelbouchra@gmail.com

Karim Chaqchaq

Karim lives in San Francisco Bay area. He holds a BS in Information Technology. He is a Certified Novel Engineer (CNE) / Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)/Cisco certified Network Administrator (CCNA). Karim has been working with AT&T as a Network Engineer maintaining private data lines for Global client accounts and government agencies with changing tasks such as Lucent/Alcatel Switches and Cisco Router support, Transmission of VBR video over ATM support, Circuit and Packet switching, maintenance of fiber optic links across WANs . Karim is highly involved in his community. He is a member of the Association of Moroccan Professionals in America ( www.ampusa.org ), a non profit organization with a simple goal to unite Moroccan professionals in the US and help them expand their professional network to advance their careers. He is also involved with the non-profit organization Morocco Foundation (www.moroccofoundation.org ). Karim can be contacted at ckarim@sbcglobal.net

Rym Fizazi

Rym Fizazi is an Account Manager at USMorocco Consulting. She has significant experience in event management as she has organized many fashion shows in Paris and New York. Rym is a Cum Laude graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology MBA program, and has also earned a degree in Business Administration from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris. She is a member of the National Association for Academic Excellence.

Narjis Rachad

Narjis is currently a Forex Specialist with Forex.com, a division of GAIN Capital group (Online Foreign Exchange trading company) on Wall Street. She is a Series 3 Registered AP with the NFA (National Futures Association) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission). Prior to landing in the Big Apple, Narjis earned a degree in Business Admnistration from l'Ecole Superieure de Commerce International ESCI in Fontainebleau, France after getting her degree from L'Ecole Francaise des Affaires (Concours d'entree aux Ecoles de Commerce). She holds an MBA in International Business from Buffalo, NY.

Yassir Abouselham

Yassir is a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young’s IT Advisory practice in San Francisco. He has over ten years of experience helping Fortune 500 corporations establish information security and privacy programs, manage IT risk and regulatory compliance. Yassir has been involved in the instruction of many information security-related classes and is a regular speaker at information security and risk management conferences. He has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business and a Master of Science degree in computer information systems.

Ali Benmoussa

Ali is a Managing Director and co-founder at Ticketwood, Inc - a ticket search engine that provides a comprehensive, fast and easy-to-use resource to find tickets to sports, concerts, and theatre events. He is responsible for business strategy, operational execution and product development vision and execution. Ali is also a co-founder at Bnet Technologies, a service provider of quality eCommerce websites, custom web/software applications and e-Business consulting in Morocco. Prior to co-founding Ticketwood, He Held positions in Tenet Healthcare, MedTech and Barry’s Tickets Service. Mr. Benmoussa received a BS in Computer Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management from California State University – Northridge. Ali was the President at IEEE – CSUN chapter, an elected member to the student government association in Alakhawayn University; he is also a member of the American Society of Quality, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Network of Arab-American Professionals. Ali enjoys watching the Los Angeles Lakers, and also is a fan of Chelsea FC. In his spare time, he likes to go see live music concerts, Travel and play soccer.

Chaouki Zahzah

Chaouki is currently managing the Customer Top Tier program for SAP consisting of fortune 100 companies. He has over 10 years experience in business intelligence, customer management, support advisory, and business development. After finishing "Les Classes Preparatoires" in Rabat, he joined the "Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble" in France. Before coming to the US, he worked for France Telecom, TRW before joining Business Objects in Paris. He was then transferred to Atlanta to manage the east coast support operations. He was then transferred to San Jose - California to manage the North America Support operations, a total of 60 people across 4 different locations both in the US and Canada. He was awarded the certificate of excellence multiple times during his tenure with SAP. Chaouki resides in the Silicon Valley - California. In his free time, Chaouki enjoys soccer, windsurfing and horseback riding. Chaouki is also the recreational program director for the De Anza Youth Soccer League and the marketing manager for the GiveLight Foundation, a non-profit humanitarian relief organization.

Nabil Saimi

Nabil Saimi was born and raised in Casablanca. After a bachelor in Applied Mathematics and Physics, he flew to Canada to pursue his learning quest, where he went to grad school to earn a Master in Applied Maths and Computer Science. He is a Ph.D candidate in Quantitative Finance at McGill/HEC-Montreal. He has also completed an executive program in Advanced Energy Economics at UC Berkeley, and an executive program in Business Communication at Stanford University.

He has been a lecturer at HEC-Montreal, where he taught Probability, Statistics and Option theory. Nabil works currently as a Senior Quantitative Analyst at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, where he is involved in procurement and energy storage optimization, financial hedging activities and renewable projects valuation. His previous experiences include an investment banking experience, as exotic derivatives senior analyst for CDP Capital in Canada, and Risk management position at Hydro-Quebec. Beside work, Nabil enjoys playing tennis, basket-ball, and traveling."

Mehdi Bousfiha

Mehdi is a Vice President at Overture Financial Services LLC, an Asset Management Company based in New York City. His responsibilities include project management and development of business requirements for the Overture Wealth Management Platform. Prior to joining Overture Financial Services LLC, Mehdi was an Assistant Vice President at Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for the investment strategies and analytics behind the International Wealth Management Process. He supported more than 1,000 Financial Advisors across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and helped them implement investment strategies for their clients' portfolios.

Imane Bentaouet

Imane Bentaouet was born and raised in Tangier. She has over eight years experience in business management, marketing, communications and economic development. Ms. Bentaouet's experience includes market analysis, communication strategies, financial analysis, and public relations. Before coming to Washington, DC for her MBA she worked with International Atlantic Group in Rabat, Morocco managing the company's supply chain operations for the distribution of major apparel brands in Morocco and Europe.

After earning her MBA, where she specialized in Financial Management and International Business., she spent 3 years working with BearingPoint, Inc (formerly KPMG Consulting) in McLean, VA, in its Global Emerging Markets division. She was responsible for initiating and coordinating business development opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia regions. Her role included analyzing the political, financial and economic environments of developing and emerging economies in the regions, and making strategic recommendations for pursuit of business opportunities. Ms. Bentaouet is currently working for DubaiLand in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ms. Bentaouet is the Vice-President of AMPA, She is also a member of the Arab Women's League which aims to promote women's rights in order to increase women's power and influence in the juridical, political, economic and social spheres to build an egalitarian society.

Hicham Kabbaj

Hicham is the president of the association of Moroccan Professionals in America http://www.amp-usa.org/, he joined the association in 2005 as Events Vice President and was elected in May 2008 as its second president. Hicham is a Senior Project Controls at one of the world's premier engineering, construction and project management companies. He joined Bechtel after graduating from Purdue University with a BS in Management and Minor in Finance and MIS. Hicham has a vast experience in construction management and energy projects, he was a key member in some of the company signature projects. He was awarded the certificate of achievement multiple times during his 9 years with Bechtel. Hicham obtained his MBA from Istituto de Empresa, and founded www.marocevents.ma, first portal of professional events in Morocco. He enjoys playing Tennis and he is originally from Rabat.

Faiza Laghrari

Faiza is a senior programmer analyst and onsite project manager at Hewitt Associates, a global consulting firm specialized in outsourcing human resources systems where she has been working for over six years. Faiza passed the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) examination in 2000, holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in information systems from the University of Florida. She is very proud to be an AMPA member and believes that " Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

Rym Fizazi

Rym Fizazi is an Account Manager at USMorocco Consulting. She has significant experience in event management as she has organized many fashion shows in Paris and New York. Rym is a Cum Laude graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology MBA program, and has also earned a degree in Business Administration from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris. She is a member of the National Association for Academic Excellence.

Khalil Jai Hokimi

Khalil is an experienced professional with a focus in online media, education services, community development, consumer marketing and sales. He has played instrumental roles in helping numerous small teams/companies grow to become multi-million dollar producers. He has also acted as a college market advisor for franchisees of corporations such as McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, 7-Eleven and New York Broadway shows Rent and Cabaret.

Prior to stepping into the entrepreneurial world by co-founding the Student Employment Council and www.zippyjobs.com, Khalil was a senior management member at Blackboard Inc., the global leader in software solutions for the education industry, where he helped leading universities create and implement new student programs through partnerships with local and national corporations.

Khalil holds a BTS in International Commerce from ISEG Toulouse, a BS in Business Management and Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MBA in Global Commerce from the Instituto de Empresa. He lives with his wife and two children in Bethesda, MD.

Omar Tazi

Omar is currently heading the open source program at Oracle. Prior to re-joining Oracle in 2005, Omar was President and CEO of Orbeon a professional services software company based in Silicon Valley, California. Before stepping into the entrepreneurial world, Omar has held several senior management positions in Silicon Valley based high-tech companies including Symantec, Oracle, and WebGain. He is also a regular speaker at IT events such as BEA eWorld, Gartner Summits, Sun Tech Days, ApacheCon, and JavaOne. Before crossing the Atlantic, Omar has held several research and teaching positions in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI). He holds an M.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Aly Horma

Aly currently lives in Morocco, where he manages his own investment advisory firm, in addition to developing real estate projects.

Aly is also a Principal at WesaGen Inc., a Massachusetts biotech venture founded by Dr. Abdelouahed, a fellow Moroccan AMPA member and Post-Doc at Harvard Medical School. WesaGen is developing nanotech drug delivery and anti-cancer platforms, using coiled motifs to make and deliver new biopharmaceuticals for specific diseases. The potential impact and benefit are significant for Morocco, and in general for countries where generic drugs could provide greater access to cures. Previous to that, Aly spent several years in finance. Among others, he was Vice President at Citigroup Private Bank, New York, in charge of the bank's special asset offshore portfolio. He also covered Middle East North Africa at Credit Suisse Private Banking, London.

Aly holds a B.Sc. from New York University Stern School of Business, and an MBA from INSEAD. He also holds a Certificate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the New York University Graduate Center for Finance, Law, & Tax.