Zufan "Zufi" Mulugeta

Founder & CEO — International Market Connect LLC (IMC Global)

21+ years  ·  $1.8B+ in investments  ·  60+ countries  ·  USAID & USDA leadership

Zufan (Zufi) Mulugeta is an international development executive with more than 21 years of leadership across USAID, USDA, the private sector, and the broader development community. She has provided strategic leadership, technical guidance, and oversight for development and humanitarian investments exceeding $1.8 billion across more than 60 countries, bridging donor priorities, government objectives, private-sector opportunity, and community needs, always with a focus on local ownership and lasting results.

Before founding IMC Global, she held senior leadership positions on complex programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. She holds an M.A. in International Trade & Policy from George Mason University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Liberty University.

She founded IMC Global to help governments, donors, local institutions, faith-based organizations, and private-sector partners strengthen systems, expand economic opportunity, advance locally led development, and deliver sustainable impact.

"After more than two decades in development, I've learned that true local ownership requires more than shifting resources. It requires shifting power. I built IMC Global to put local leaders at the center of strategy, not just delivery, and to support them with the rigor, accountability, and discipline I carried throughout 21 years of public service. Real partnership means investing in capability, measuring what works, and helping countries and communities build the systems they need to drive their own development priorities. That is what lasting results look like.”

Zufan (Zufi) Mulugeta
Founder & CEO