Financial and Strategy Analysis for Sustainability and Global Development Projects and Organizations

Neil Hawkins has dedicated his career to defining a positive and impactful role for business in global sustainable development and public policy. For 31 years, he led at Dow, ultimately serving as Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) and Chief Vice President of Environment, Health, and Safety for the last twelve years. There, he was the architect of the breakthrough valuing nature collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and he integrated environment and social considerations into the core of the Dow's business strategy and public reporting. After Dow, as President of Erb Family Foundation, a $350 million regional philanthropy, he focused over four years on improving the Great Lakes ecosystem, supporting environmental justice and founding the Sustainable Business Network of Detroit. He is former President of the World Environment Center, a leading global sustainable business association in Washington, DC; President of Michigan Sustainability Associates, LLC; and research advisor and instructor at Harvard Extension School in the master of sustainability program. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has been appointed board director at many for-profit and nonprofit sustainability, arts, and business organizations. He is a strategy advisor to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and CSOs and a past appointee to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sustainability Commission and the landmark Financial Stability Board Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which completely redefined the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment landscape. Hawkins was awarded the 2012 CK Prahalad Award for Sustainability Leadership by Corporate Eco Forum. He graduated from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health with a doctor of science in environmental health and is an alumnus of Georgia Institute of Technology in health physics/nuclear engineering.

Raeda Addoum is an architect and sustainability consultant focused on sustainable social architecture, urban design, and institutional sustainability. She advises companies and organizations on strengthening sustainability strategies and improving operational performance, with experience across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. She is a co-founder of Exa IT Solutions GmbH, an international consulting firm delivering information technology (IT), sustainability, and finance advisory services. She is also a co-founder of Sustain Rise, an initiative focused on advancing practical sustainability solutions. Addoum contributes to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) working group on sustainable smart cities, supporting the development of standards addressing urban sustainability challenges. She previously served on the board of Oak Meadow Montessori School, where she worked on the facilities committee and led sustainability-focused initiatives. She earned a dual bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus (Germany) and Al Wadi International University (Syria), completed additional coursework at Columbia University, and holds a master's degree in sustainability from Harvard Extension School, where she was awarded the Dean's Prize for an outstanding capstone.