Fabian Koss

Fabian worked for 24 years at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as a senior specialist and team leader. He was one of the founders of the Inter-American working group on youth development, a consortium of international donor agencies, which increased resource support and promoted learning around effective youth development programs in the hemisphere.

He led and developed various programs & international partnerships with the public & private sector.He was instrumental in creating the partnership, which united CDI Brazil, Microsoft, and StarMedia together with the IDB to launch the CDI Americas Initiative to help bridge the “digital divide” in Latin America.

Fabian facilitated the creation of awareness building campaigns with major international media networks to promote the active participation of young people in the development process.He was responsible for forging the partnership with the IDB and MTV Latin America.This strategic alliance with MTV produced numerous projects, which highlighted that young people are part of the solution to challenges in their communities.

He spearheaded the IDB’s Sports for Development Initiative.This initiative uses the power of sports to help youth take advantage of social and economic advancement opportunities.The initiative has four areas of focus: youth development, health and wellness, social inclusion, and violence prevention.Through this initiative, partnerships have been established with governments, Coca-Cola, Fifa, NBA, NFL, Nike Foundation, UN, USAID, FC Barcelona, Gatorade, Real Madrid, among many others.

In 2000, the IDB youth program received the United Nations World Youth Award for its achievement in implementing the UN worldprogram of action for youth.

In 1999, Fabian founded the Many Hats Institute (MHI). MHI is an international organization that is dedicated to improving the conditions for children worldwide. It is supported by a network of renowned professionals from diverse backgrounds, who raise funds and provide assistance to promote community development and engage young leaders to become resources for their communities. Initiatives have included a Placido Domingo concert to raise funds for the victims of an earthquake in El Salvador. MHI has teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, Harvard Business School, Mastercard and AOL among others to leverage the time, talent and resources of the “many hatters” from around the world.

Fabian is an Adjunct Professor at the American University Kogod School of Business where he teaches Global Sustainability and serves on various boards including Company E, Sports for Sharing, Medora Ventures and Reach Your Peak. He has spoken at numerous world economic forum events, Clinton global initiative annual meetings and a host of United Nations ministerial sessions.

Fabian was born in Argentina and completed his BA in public affairs at the American University and a graduate certificate in public relations at New York University.