About Us – MoneySmart

About MONEYSMART

A movement born from a single observation.

MONEYSMART began in Beirut in 2016, when a gap between financial reality and financial knowledge became impossible to ignore. What followed was a programme, a partnership model, and eventually a movement that has reached communities across Lebanon, the Levant, and the GCC.

The more we asked questions, the clearer the gap became. Financial education was simply not happening, not in schools, not in universities, not in any structured way that prepared people for real life. The need to act was urgent, and it was everywhere.

Nina Abi Fadel, Founder

Our Story

From one
observation to a
regional movement.

It started with an observation. In 2016, Nina Abi Fadel, a social impact strategist with a deep belief in the power of education to change behaviour, was watching young interns and employees navigate their daily lives in Lebanon. The spending habits, the lifestyle choices, the quiet dependency on parents well into adulthood. She started asking questions. And the more she asked, the clearer the gap became: financial education was simply not happening, not in schools, not in universities, not anywhere.

The response was not just to talk about it, but to design something worth attending. From the beginning, the programme was built around a distinct learning philosophy: in just two days over a weekend, participants would engage with six interrelated money topics, guided by high-level experts who connected every concept to real-life examples. It was experiential, immersive, and deliberately designed to shift mindsets, not just transfer knowledge.

But none of it would have been possible without a founding belief in shared responsibility. A CSR partnership model was built from the outset, enabling private and public institutions to invest in financial literacy as a community good. This was not an afterthought. It was the foundation that made access possible, and the reason the 2017 national pilot in Lebanon could open its doors to people who would otherwise never have had this opportunity.

The impact was immediate, and it multiplied in ways nobody had fully anticipated. Participants left transformed. They came back with a new challenge: they now knew things their parents didn’t, and they asked for a programme for their families. So one was created. Then they asked why none of this had ever been taught in schools, and volunteered to help spread the knowledge themselves. So a track was built around them too. Every community MONEYSMART reached revealed a new need, and every need became a new chapter.

From Lebanon, the programme expanded across the Levant, then into the GCC, always carried by the same conviction: that financial literacy is not a personal benefit alone. A financially literate individual makes better decisions, reduces dependency, builds resilience, and contributes to a healthier economic ecosystem. The ripple effect is real, and it is measurable.

What began as a response to a gap has grown into a movement, shaped not by a top-down strategy but by the communities that kept asking for more. MONEYSMART continues to evolve, refining its approach and deepening its model as the landscape shifts, as awareness grows, and as a new generation across the Arab world begins to demand the financial knowledge they were never given. The work is far from over.

What Drives Us

Our purpose, stated plainly.

To close the financial literacy gap in the Arab world by delivering transformative, culturally grounded learning experiences that empower individuals at every stage of life to make informed, confident, and independent financial decisions.

How We Show Up

The principles behind every programme.

Four commitments that shape every decision we make, every track we build, and every community we enter.

Access

Financial knowledge should not be a privilege. Our partnership model removes cost as a barrier, ensuring the communities that need this most can access it freely.

Relevance

Every track is built around the real financial pressures of real people in the Arab world, not adapted from curricula designed elsewhere.

Impact

We measure what matters. Every programme is tracked, evaluated, and refined to ensure lasting behaviour change, not just awareness.

Community

MONEYSMART grows because communities ask it to. Every expansion, every new track, has been driven by the people we serve.

The People Behind MONEYSMART

Expertise that is both deep and diverse.

MONEYSMART brings together a carefully curated network of senior professionals, practitioners, and educators, each selected for their subject-matter depth and their ability to connect financial knowledge to lived experience. Our experts carry hands-on experience across the Levant and GCC, spanning banking, investment, entrepreneurship, corporate finance, and behavioural economics. What unites them is a shared belief: that financial education, when done right, changes lives.

Founder

Nina Abi Fadel

A social impact strategist with a career built at the intersection of education, community development, and behavioural change. Nina founded MONEYSMART after observing a systemic gap in financial education across the Arab world, and has since led its growth from a single national pilot in Lebanon to a regional programme reaching communities across the Levant and GCC. Her approach combines strategic rigour with a genuine commitment to making financial knowledge accessible to all.

Our Expert Network

Every MONEYSMART programme is facilitated by senior professionals drawn from our broader network of practitioners. Experts are selected based on the track, the audience, and the context, ensuring the highest quality of delivery at every session.

Areas of Expertise

Personal Finance and Budgeting
Investment and Portfolio Strategy
Banking, Credit and Debt Management
Business Modelling and Scaling
Entrepreneurship and Business Finance
Wealth Structuring and Protection
Financial Coaching and Mindset
Corporate and Institutional Finance
Behavioural Economics
Financial Inclusion and Social Impact

Who We Work With

Partners who believe financial literacy is a shared responsibility.

MONEYSMART partners with a wide range of organisations that recognise financial literacy as a strategic investment, whether in their people, their clients, or the communities they are part of. Our partners share a belief that informed financial decisions, at every level, create stronger, more resilient societies.

Financial Institutions

Partnering to deliver financial literacy as part of their commitment to client empowerment, employee development, and responsible banking.

Corporates

Investing in the financial wellbeing of their teams as part of employee benefit, engagement, and social responsibility strategies.

Foundations and NGOs

Embedding financial literacy within broader community development, youth empowerment, and social impact programmes.

Educational Institutions

Bringing structured financial education to students at the moments that matter most in their academic and personal development.

Join the Financial Literacy Movement

Ready to bring financial
literacy to your community?

Whether you are an institution, a foundation, a school, or a company, there is a partnership model built for you. Let’s start with a conversation.