the Wond'ry

Areas of Expertise: Finance, Fundraising, Healthcare, Leadership, Marketing, Operations, Presentation

Amr El-Husseini is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lodestone Advisory Group. Based in Nashville, he directly oversees the global operations of the firm and execution of client mandates. Amr works with clients and partners located across the world in the areas of international expansion and market entry, mergers and acquisitions, business accelerators and entrepreneurship, international investments, corporate turnarounds, innovation, and strategy. Amr is also a Senior Advisor to GSIS, a Washington, D.C. based firm specializing in data analytics and security; an advisory board member to Millie, a Washington D.C. based digital marketplace specializing in military communities; a board member of the International Business Council of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce; and an advisory board member of the Tennessee World Affairs Council. Most recently, Amr also served a two-year term as a board member for one of Qatar Islamic Bank’s international banking subsidiaries and as a member of the selection committee for a number of local and international accelerators.

Over the past few years, Amr has authored works and presented globally on entrepreneurship, banking strategy and internationalization, and cross-border investments, including speaking engagements at UC Berkeley, the University of Cambridge, and American University (Washington, DC). Amr has also worked on various private equity and investment banking transactions covering diverse sectors including financial services, commodity brokerage, insurance and takaful, international sukuks, telecom, real estate and infrastructure. He has previously led and successfully negotiated various joint venture agreements and memorandums of understanding for the development of international business enterprises.

Prior to founding Lodestone, Amr served as the Senior Executive Manager & Head of International Development for QIB. In his capacity at QIB, he oversaw the bank’s international operations and strategic investments (M&A, Ventures and Integrations), as well as the bank’s international network stretching from the UK to Malaysia, where he led a number of successful turnarounds and restructuring assignments. Amr’s role with QIB also involved the development and execution of the bank’s international expansion strategy, where he led market entry initiatives into European, Asian, and GCC countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, the UK, France, Turkey, Lebanon, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and Sudan.

Prior to his work at QIB, Amr served as a Project Manager for Path Solutions, where he led large scale consulting projects for global and regional commercial and investment banks in areas that include product strategy and development, international expansion, profitability and transfer pricing, fund management, treasury, core banking technology implementation, e-banking, conversion of conventional banks, and risk management.

Before joining Path Solutions, Amr held various banking and consulting roles with regional and international groups including Fransabank, Ernst & Young, HSBC and Audi Bank.

Amr is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s General Management Program. He also received an MBA from the University of Wales, and a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from RHU where he was presented with the Alumni Achievement Award. Amr also holds the CIPA certification from AAOIFI. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

To meet with Amr, or any of our excellent mentors, please fill out this interest form.

Q. What excites you most about the Wond’ry?

A. The Wond’ry’s potential to contribute to the development and transformation of Nashville’s innovation ecosystem and the creation of a true global innovation hub in the city. I have no doubt this is an imperative for the future of Nashville, but even more importantly it is doable.

Q. What do you feel are the most important skills you have to offer in your role as a mentor?

A.

Corporate Strategy
Financial Management
International Business
Deal Negotiation
Investment Analysis and Valuation
M&A
Business Acceleration
Corporate Turnaround
Venture Capital

Q.What has been your proudest moment in your career?

A.Corporate turnaround and deal negotiation (mostly in acquisitions) have always given me a lot of excitement and personal satisfaction, mainly because of the enormous challenges they bring and the problems that require swift solving. I would probably say the successful turnarounds of a number of international banks in London, Kuala Lumpur, and Beirut, in three to six months’ time each, tops my list. Similarly, the establishment of an international accelerator where start-ups and SME’s had the opportunity not only to put their growth on a fast track, but also to expand beyond their local market and explore global opportunities ties the rank.

Q.If you could do everything over again, would you make the same career choices?

A.Absolutely.

Q.In your opinion, what is the most important quality for success?

A.There is not a single most important quality for success. To try to come-up with a shortlist, I would say perseverance, consistency, integrity, global awareness, intellectual curiosity, and ambition.

Q.When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A.I was always fascinated and interested by the world of business, investments, and banking, to the extent that I saved part of my weekly pocket-money in a bank account as a child, and was able to open a tiny stock trading account for the minimum required at a very young age.