Nivine Chaaban leads the Grant and Finance Unit under the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) initiative, overseeing grants and financial governance to support innovation at the water–energy–food nexus. She brings over 20 years of experience in development finance, program management, banking, SME finance, and donor-funded private sector and food system development programs.
Between November 2022 and December 2025, Nivine served as Program Manager for the Food System Challenge (FSC), a flagship program supporting agri-food MSMEs and value chain actors in Lebanon amid compounding economic and humanitarian crises. In this role, she led program design and implementation, managed multi-donor funding, coordinated with public and private stakeholders, and oversaw recovery grants, capacity-building interventions, and market access initiatives. She ensured alignment with donor requirements while adapting program modalities to a highly volatile operating environment, with a strong focus on resilience, sustainability, and private sector recovery.
Prior to FSC, Nivine served as a Program Manager of the Lebanon Enterprise Development (LED) Project, funded by USAID, where she was responsible for overall contract performance, technical leadership, stakeholder engagement, and day-to-day operations. She ensured effective delivery of enterprise support interventions, strong collaboration with partners and donors, and high-quality financial and technical reporting.
Nivine joined Berytech in 2018 as a Business Advisor, providing tailored technical assistance to local enterprises to address operational and financial constraints, enhance sales performance, and stimulate job creation. Her advisory work was grounded by a strong understanding of business development, financial structuring, and risk management.
Before transitioning to the development sector, Nivine spent two decades in the banking sector, holding senior roles including Head of Small Business Enterprises Department at BLC Bank SAL, where she led business development efforts and managed a team of relationship managers, and Head of Analysis Department at Alpha Bank, where she oversaw credit risk assessment and loan structuring. She began her career as a Regional Sales Representative, driving product promotion and performance planning across branch networks.
Nivine’s expertise lies at the intersection of grant and financial management, credit risk assessment, SME and agri-food enterprise development, and donor-funded program delivery. She brings a result-oriented, people-centered leadership approach and extensive experience working with international donors, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders.
She holds a degree in Business Administration from Université Saint-Joseph and is fluent in Arabic, English, and French. Based in Lebanon, Nivine is committed to advancing resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economic and food systems. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and music, and is currently learning to play the violin.