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Azzedine Downes is President & CEO of IFAW, leading global animal welfare efforts through innovative conservation, wildlife crime prevention, and strategic partnerships to protect animals and habitats across continents.
Azzedine Downes is not your typical wildlife conservationist. Fluent in French and Arabic, schooled in international diplomacy, and seasoned by global development missions, he has spent decades crafting solutions at the crossroads of human need and animal welfare. As the President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Downes is recognized globally for transforming the organization from a reactive rescue agency into a leading force for systemic, scalable conservation. Since taking the helm in 2013, he has led with ambition, pragmatism, and a distinctive belief that saving animals must go hand-in-hand with supporting people.
Before joining IFAW in 1997, Downes was deeply immersed in international service. He served as Chief of Party for USAID programs in Morocco and Jerusalem, and as Country Director for the Peace Corps in the Middle East and Eurasia. This background cultivated in him a global mindset and an acute understanding of cultural nuance, governance, and the interdependence between environmental health and human well-being. These insights later became central to his leadership style—bridging government policy, NGO innovation, and grassroots activism to protect animals and ecosystems worldwide.
When Downes stepped into IFAW’s executive vice presidency and later assumed the role of President and CEO, he initiated a bold transformation. He saw that while emergency animal rescues were important, true conservation required long-term strategies and cross-sector partnerships. Under his leadership, IFAW expanded its mission to include habitat protection, species conservation, disaster response, and the fight against wildlife trafficking.
He restructured the organization to prioritize impact over geography, expanding into Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Offices were established in new regions, with staff trained to collaborate with local governments, indigenous leaders, and enforcement agencies. IFAW became a global presence under his stewardship—its influence extending far beyond traditional wildlife protection.
One of Downes’ most celebrated initiatives is the lease agreement IFAW negotiated with the Maasai community in Kenya, securing 16,000 acres of land near Amboseli National Park. This unprecedented project preserved vital elephant migration corridors and provided direct economic benefits to the Maasai people—proving that conservation could simultaneously protect species and uplift communities.
Recognizing a geographic and political gap in the wildlife protection landscape, Downes oversaw the establishment of IFAW’s first Middle East office in Dubai. This move extended the organization's capacity to address wildlife trafficking, promote education, and train customs and enforcement officers across more than 30 countries.
Partnering with INTERPOL and CITES, Downes championed intelligence-led approaches to dismantle wildlife trafficking networks. IFAW, under his leadership, launched programs to detect illegal shipments of ivory, tiger bones, rhino horn, and other wildlife products. These efforts extended to training frontline rangers, supporting customs officers, and introducing cutting-edge tools to detect and stop poachers and smugglers.
Azzedine Downes has become one of the world’s foremost thought leaders in animal welfare and conservation. In 2015, he was named among Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business”, an honor rarely bestowed in the nonprofit environmental sector. In 2016, he was listed in The NonProfit Times' Top 50 Power & Influence list, a reflection of his capacity to drive change and shape dialogue at the highest levels of government and industry.
He also serves on multiple influential boards and councils, including:
Forbes Nonprofit Council
Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation’s Council for Hope
Global Tiger Forum Advisory Council
U.S. Trade and Environmental Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC)
His voice resonates in international forums, where he continues to advocate for animal welfare policies, trade reforms, and inclusive conservation.
Downes often speaks about the importance of reaching beyond the traditional conservation community. He believes that real change comes when “unusual suspects”—such as auction houses, financial institutions, and even fashion designers—are brought into the solution. His philosophy is rooted in inclusion: bringing diverse voices together to protect the planet’s most vulnerable creatures.
For example, IFAW has worked with e-commerce giants and tech companies to shut down online illegal wildlife markets. They have also collaborated with art auction platforms to prevent the sale of ivory-based art. By weaving conservation into the fabric of industries not historically engaged in this space, Downes has helped redefine what collaboration means in the nonprofit world.
Rather than focusing solely on emergency response, Downes’ IFAW integrates immediate action with long-term strategy. This includes:
Wildlife rescue from conflict zones, poaching incidents, or natural disasters.
Rehabilitation and release programs, particularly for elephants, big cats, and marine mammals.
Community-based conservation, offering employment and training to locals to reduce reliance on poaching or deforestation.
Policy influence, actively lobbying for wildlife trade bans, habitat protection laws, and international agreements.
This holistic approach makes IFAW a rare organization that doesn’t just treat the symptoms of ecological collapse but addresses the root causes.
Azzedine Downes’ personal and academic background reflects the depth of his global insight. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in French from Providence College, completed a Master’s in Social Policy at Harvard University, and studied French linguistics at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Multilingual and multicultural, Downes is uniquely positioned to lead international teams and navigate cross-border diplomacy.
His diplomatic finesse, paired with unshakable commitment, has won the trust of indigenous leaders, UN officials, rural farmers, and international financiers alike. From remote African villages to the halls of Washington D.C., Downes is a leader who listens first, acts strategically, and adapts rapidly.
Under Azzedine Downes’ leadership, IFAW has become more than a nonprofit—it is now a movement. A movement that saves orphaned elephants, rescues entangled whales, disrupts global smuggling rings, and helps communities find sustainable livelihoods.
Downes has consistently emphasized that saving one animal matters as much as saving an entire species. This dual lens—compassion for the individual and responsibility for the ecosystem—defines IFAW’s identity and shapes its future.
In an era marked by environmental crisis, biodiversity loss, and climate change, the need for innovative leadership has never been more urgent. Azzedine Downes is answering that call, building coalitions, leveraging science, and instilling hope in the next generation of conservationists.
Azzedine Downes is not just a CEO. He is a changemaker, a coalition builder, and a moral compass in the global fight for a livable planet. With sharp intellect, boundless empathy, and strategic prowess, he has taken IFAW from being a respected rescue organization to becoming a transformative global force.
By merging high-level diplomacy with ground-level action, Downes has demonstrated what true conservation leadership looks like. It’s not just about protecting animals. It’s about empowering people, transforming systems, and rewriting the story of coexistence.
As the planet faces unprecedented ecological challenges, Azzedine Downes and IFAW continue to inspire with a message that is as urgent as it is hopeful: a better future is possible—for animals and people alike—if we have the courage to build it together.