Association of Moroccan Professionals in America


	Khalil Jai Hokimi, Board Member Khalil is an experienced professional with a focus in consumer marketing, B2B and B2C sales. Khalil has played instrumental roles in helping numerous small 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. Khalil is now a senior management member in a technology company (Blackboard), where he works with leading universities to help them enhance their ID systems. Khalil received multiple awards including a Knightship (Wissam) from His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, an Outstanding Leader Award from the Association of Moroccan Students in America, and multiple sales trophies from all companies he has worked for.

	Omar Tazi, Board Member 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.

	Faiza Laghrari, Jaridati Editor 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. Faiza is the editor- in- chief of Jaridati, the AMPA newsletter that she launched in 2005 and has been leading since then. 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."

	Mehdi Bousfiha, Board Member 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.

	Talal Belrhiti, Talal is a director at the Maghreb Center, a Washington, DC-based think tank. A former Assistant Editor of the Middle East Institute's Middle East Journal, Talal served as editor of the Institute's many publications including the newsletter and wrote several briefs and columns for the Institute. Some of his best work experience was at the the Tarik Ibn Zyad Center for Research and Studies in Rabat, Morocco. He also researched the relationship between the military and politics in democratic and non-democratic countries through his work at the National Democratic Institute. Talal is currently pursuing his doctorate in politics at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the The Task Force on Arab Democracy and Development, The Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institutions. The Task force is made up of high-level policy officials, experts, and implementers who convene regularly to discuss political and economic reform in the Arab world and formulate ways to enhance the impact of US policy. Talal likes reading, new ideas, as well as meeting new people.


	Aly Horma, VP Policy 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.

	Rym Fizazi, Board Member 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.

	Hicham Kabbaj, President Hicham is a Project Controls Engineer 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 Worked on two different business lines, Telecom and Power, he was involved with the biggest lump sum job in Bechtel 100 years history. He was awarded certificate for achievement twice during his 5 years with Bechtel. Hicham enjoys playing Tennis and he is originally from Rabat.

	Zakaria El Goumiri, Zakaria El Goumiri is a Sr. Specialist working at the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS), a public International Organization with headquarters in Washington DC. As a Sr. Specialist, Mr. El Goumiri takes a leadership role in the support of the OAS/SEDI special missions, policy recommendations, evaluation, implementation and management of programs and projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. El Goumiri also act as OAS/SEDI Haiti Desk Officer and in charge to organize and convene Haiti's next Trade and Investment Forum, a key component to promote and facilitate the development of private sector investment in Haiti, particularly in the area of trade, tourism, agribusiness, handicrafts, ITC and infrastructure expansion. Previously, Mr. El Goumiri was working at the Secretariat for Management within the OAS where he was responsible for the research of topics critical to the interests of the political bodies, particularly in the area of personnel policies reform and Budget. He studied Political-Economics (B.Sc.) at L'Université de Montréal and has Masters' Degrees, in Public Administration (MPA) and International Management (IM) from L'École Nationale D'Administration Publique (ENAP) Montréal. He also accomplished a Masters Degree in International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he is also pursuing a Doctorate Degree in conjunction with SAIS Bologna Center, focusing on International Institutions.

	Imane Alaoui, Imane is a senior system engineer for ViaTech System working for a Department for Labor contract, where she manages a team of analysts, and programmers. Imane has over 6 years experience in IT government consulting and most specifically in system analysis and design. Before getting her degree in Information System Imane had a bachelor degree in Marketing and worked a little over a year as a marketing consultant. Additionally Imane has participated as an active member in various social organizations where she taught cultural acceptance and social integration. She was also involved in several fundraising activities.