Lia Yaffar

Lia Yaffar serves as the Director for the Community Fund of North Miami Dade, a subsidiary of Opalocka Community Development Corporation (OLCDC). In this role, she is responsible for the Certified CDFI’s functions supporting its mission including small business lending and portfolio management. Lia’s work in the Community Fund also includes overseeing the technical assistance program and growing the size of funds available for lending to small businesses and affordable housing.

Prior to joining the Community Fund, Lia spent over 20 years in the financial services industry including banking, brokerage, and insurance at institutions including HSBC Bank, Espirito Santo Bank and Charles Schwab. Her most recent professional experience includes several engagements her consulting practice, Y-vas LLC, focused on business improvement. Responsibilities in prior roles in other organizations included sales management in banking and brokerage with P&L responsibility and oversight of financial and operations areas.

Lia graduated from George Washington University with an MBA in Finance and also holds a BBA from the University of Miami in Finance.

Lia has served as Director in the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation (SAHF) since 2007 and as Director at the Bakehouse Art Complex, and as Treasurer since 2018. She is a native speaker of Spanish and English, is fluent in French, and has working knowledge of Portuguese.