STAFF & BOARD

Hassen Al-Shawaf

Board Member

As the Managing Director of U.S. Tax Planning and U.S. Tax Counsel for BMO Financial Group (“BMO”), Hassen is a member of both the finance and tax senior leadership teams. He advises BMO on a wide range of tax matters including cross-border and related-party transactions, financial products, corporate reorganizations, and acquisitions. Hassen represents BMO before the IRS, before the U.S. Treasury Department, and in several industry and trade groups.

Prior to BMO, Hassen practiced tax law at two Chicago-based international law firms and worked at a public accounting firm. He is a licensed and practicing attorney and an inactive Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor.

Hassen earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois Gies College of Business. Additionally, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he served as an articles editor on the law review.

In addition to his board service at RefugeeOne, Hassen is also board member of the University of Illinois Gies Business Alumni Association, an organization dedicated to connecting Gies alumni and raising need-based scholarship funds. He is a prior Emerging Leaders Fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Hassen lives in Chicago with his wife, Laura, and daughter, Amali.