Ralph Chami

Ralph Chami currently serves as Assistant Director at the International Monetary Fund, where he has made significant contributions across multiple roles during his 25-year tenure. His current focus involves pioneering work on climate change and biodiversity conservation, developing innovative models for valuing natural capital and ecosystem services. As former Assistant Director in the Institute for Capacity Development, he led the transformation of IMF's internal and external training programs. His distinguished career includes serving as Division Chief overseeing fragile states in the Middle East and Central Asia Department, where he earned the 2014 IMF Operational Excellence Award for his work on Libya. Before joining the IMF in 1999, he was a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame's Department of Finance. His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, an MBA from the University of Kansas, and a BS from the American University of Beirut. Beyond his economic expertise, Chami has co-founded Blue Green Future and Rebalance Earth, organizations dedicated to developing nature-positive market solutions. His innovative work on natural capital valuation has been featured at TED2022 and in major international media outlets