Farad Ali
A proven local, regional, and national business leader, Farad has dedicated himself for over 30 years as a businessperson and civic leader to building community, economic development, and unity for people to achieve mutual prosperity. He co-founded ALI | HEIJMEN as both a testament and a growth engine for this mission.
Farad is a native of Brooklyn NY and as a young kid, IBM hired his dad and relocated his family to Durham, North Carolina. The relocation expanded the opportunities for the family and Farad completed his education in Durham Public Schools and went on to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After college, he worked as a personal, corporate, commercial real estate and community development banker for Wells Fargo and PNC.
As a community development banker, Farad was able to build a profitable portfolio in North Carolina by actively pursuing a broadly diverse clientele. Seeing firsthand how carefully and deliberately practicing inclusiveness and diversity in banking produced stellar results, he was inspired to broaden his focus to promote diversity and inclusion in business and communities at large.
In this journey, among the important leadership roles Farad has served are: CEO of the National Institute of Minority Economic Development (The Institute), a nonprofit management consulting and services firm focused on business diversity and inclusion; CEO of the Carolinas Virginia Minority Supplier Diversity Council; Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation Small Business Transportation Resource Center; Project Director for the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Center of NC; and has previously served as Chairman of the Board of various organizations to include North Carolina Central University School of Business Board of Visitors, the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Authority, Duke Regional Hospital, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and the Airport Minority Advisory Council National Association.
Farad earned a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MBA from the Campbell University Lundy-Fetterman School of Business and has completed post-graduate course work at Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business and Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business.
He loves his wife and four children, traveling, reading, and participating in equitable community impact initiatives.
Christiaan Heijmen
By co-founding ALI | HEIJMEN, Christiaan is fulfilling his dream of promoting truly diverse business leadership to produce greater prosperity and opportunity throughout the corporate world and the communities it serves. He joins Farad Ali building on 15 years as a successful retained executive search professional serving top-tier PE and VC backed established and emerging growth companies, their CEOs, HR leaders and other key executives throughout the Raleigh-Durham area, North Carolina and beyond.
Christiaan has a B.A. in English and B.S. in Business from the University of Massachusetts, where he graduated Summa CumLaude, and was a 4-year division one rugby player. He received his MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, where he served as a Coach K COLE Leadership & Ethics Fellow. After commencing his executive search career in New York City, he relocated permanently to the Triangle in 2010, and was recognized by Duke in 2013 with the Business Award for Exemplary Alumni Service to the school.
Side-note: this honor was recognized during Christiaan’s 5th MBA reunion which coincided with Tim Cook’s 25th MBA reunion. Mr. Cook was honored to briefly share the stage with Mr. Heijmen 😊
Since establishing his home in the Triangle, Christiaan has endeavored to make his community a better place by serving on several boards, creating a forum for local CEOs and CHROs to meet and share ideas, launching the Elevation Church Durham Campus, Co-chairing the American Heart Association annual Heart ball and co-chairing the yearly North Carolina Symphony Friends of Note Gala. He is an avid friend and advocate of men, women, and children with disabilities.
He loves his wife Victoria and four children, golfing, boxing, hiking, reading, and working in his community to provide equitable access to all people.