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Ali Zein Alabdin Ahmad
Fellow The Oxford SDG Lab
Ali Zein is an investor and systems thinker backing venture and growth-stage companies across AI infrastructure, clean energy and critical minerals. At the University of Oxford, he has contributed to work at the intersection of sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship, including advising on the design of a new venture programme for deep-tech founders as an SDG Impact Lab Fellow. His policy work has included resilience projects with the United Nations Development Programme across 23 countries and regional energy security analysis as a recognised MENA Young Leader with a Cambridge-based think tank. Across both his investment work and his policy engagements, Ali has focused on where private capital and public resilience goals overlap, particularly in sectors, like clean energy and critical minerals, that are themselves heavily water-dependent even when water is not the headline issue. Ali holds a Master's degree from the University of Oxford and a First-Class Bachelor's degree in Business. His interests centre on climate-compatible development, resource security, emerging technologies and widening access to opportunity for young people. He also serves on the board of JCI London. Through the Global Youth Water Envoys Program, he brings an investor's perspective on water-intensive sectors to the international conversation ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference.