Our Team

James Harmon

CHAIRMAN OF THE EGYPTIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND

James Harmon is the Founder and Chairman of the Caravel Fund, an emerging and frontier market fund. He served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Export-Import Bank of the United States from 1997-2001. James was appointed as EAEF Chairman in 2012. Bringing extensive investment and emerging markets experience, he helped nominate the inaugural board of directors and select the Lorax management team, establishing the EAEF as a reputable player in the Egyptian market today. In 2004, James was elected Chairman of the Board of the World Resources Institute, a global policy and research institution. Prior to working at the Export-Import Bank, James was Chairman and CEO of Schroder Wertheim & Co. investment bank.

Yasmine Ghobrial

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Since joining EAEF in 2017, Yasmine has played a key role sourcing and managing investments across diverse sectors, while building strong relationships with fund managers, portfolio companies, and key stakeholders. Before joining EAEF, Yasmine worked in investor relations at Edita Food Industries, one of Egypt’s largest publicly listed snack food companies. She began her career as an Investment Analyst at First Equity Partners, a boutique private equity firm based in Egypt with a presence across the MENA region. Yasmine holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from the German University in Cairo

Cornelius W. Queen

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

Cornelius is a Senior Vice President with EAEF. He has over 10 years of experience working in the Middle East.

Previously, he worked on the Syrian Crisis Response in Lebanon for a local NGO and before as a Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill covering trade and foreign policy issues. From 2011-2012, he served as a core staff member for the Carter Center on its international election observation mission for Egypt’s first parliamentary and presidential elections after the 2011 revolution. He is a Middle East Policy Council 40 under 40 awardee. He earned an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and his BA from the Johns Hopkins University.

Joseph Rivera

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Prior to joining EAEF, Joseph held similar roles at registered investment advisors, Phoenician Capital, a global hedge fund focused on growth opportunities; Caravel Management, an emerging and frontier markets equities hedge fund; Hull Capital, a fund of funds focused on investing in private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) managers, and Hurricane Capital Advisors, an emerging global multi-manager platform. Joseph received his BA in Accounting from the University of Miami and is a CPA registered in New York State.

Margaret Engelhardt

Chief of Staff

Ms. Engelhardt is Chief of Staff of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF). Margaret assisted the Chairman from 2013 to 2015 in launching EAEF. In 2020, she was appointed Chief of Staff.

Ms. Engelhardt is Chief Administrative Officer of Caravel Management where she is responsible for a variety of the Firm’s operations and for investor relations. Margaret has been with Caravel since its inception in 2004 and has been a partner in the Fund since 2007.

In 2001, Margaret was instrumental in the formation of Harmon & Co. where she is Vice President, Administration.

In 1997, Margaret joined the Export-Import Bank of the United States as a political appointee (Schedule C) in the Clinton Administration. During her four years at Ex-Im Bank, Margaret served as Special Assistant to the Chairman where she acted as a liaison between the Chairman’s office and the Bank’s Board of Directors as well as other areas of the Bank. Margaret also served as Ex-Im Bank’s Schedule C White House Liaison.

Ms. Engelhardt began her career in 1984 as Executive Assistant to the Chairman and CEO (James Harmon) of Wertheim & Co.

Fiona Mora

Assistant to the Chairman

Fiona is Assistant to EAEF’s Chairman. She has worked with the Chairman since March 2006. In 2018 Fiona formally joined the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) where she assists with all staff travel, office procurement, scheduling and works directly with the members of the board of directors on logistics of their travel related to our semi-annual board meetings.

Born, raised and educated in Scotland, Fiona holds her City and Guilds certificates in Hotel and Catering Management from Ayr College, Ayrshire Scotland.

Nada Samy

Associate

Nada is an Associate at EAEF. In this role, she works directly with EAEF’s portfolio companies and fund managers and represents the fund in Cairo. She is involved in deal origination and sourcing and assists in deal execution and portfolio monitoring. Nada began her career by taking on investment analyst roles at startups, where she gained experience in fundraising and investor relations.

Nada is a Scholar Alumna of the UAE-based Abdullah Al Ghurair Foundation for Education and holds a BSc from the American University of Cairo. She is currently pursuing her CFA charter.

Teju Shukla

Controller

Teju is a Controller at the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund. She brings nearly two decades of experience in alternative investments, with deep expertise across private equity, hedge funds, and liquid alternative fund of funds on both the sell side and buy side.

Previously, she held senior roles at Apex Group, Morgan Stanley Fund Services and Wafra Inc., where she managed multi-billion dollar portfolios and drove complex operational initiatives. She holds a B.A. in Economics with Finance concentration from Rutgers University.