Neil Hawkins

Sustainable business thought leader and Erb Foundation President, Dr. Neil C. Hawkins is a Keynote Speaker for the Summit Session 3 on October 23, at 10am central time.

Dr. Neil C. Hawkins is president of the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing an environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant metropolitan Detroit (Michigan) and a flourishing Great Lakes ecosystem. Prior to his appointment, he served at Dow Inc., retiring as Corporate Vice President, Environment, Health and Safety, and Chief Sustainability Officer.

Hawkins is a leading global expert in sustainable business practices and sustainability policy. His ground-breaking work in leading Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability reporting led to his appointment by Michael Bloomberg and Mark Carney to the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) of Financial Stability Board (FSB) and his appointment to the International Olympic Commission Sustainability and Legacy Commission. Hawkins developed several breakthrough public-private-societal collaborations, including the Valuing Nature project of Dow and The Nature Conservancy, and the University of Michigan Graduate Sustainability Fellows program, both of which are thriving after more than a decade.

Hawkins continues to drive scholarship and research through his appointments at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Policy and Global Affairs Committee and The Council on Foreign Relations. He is also an adjunct professor at Wayne State University where he co-teaches the Sustainable Urban Business graduate seminar at the Mike Ilitch School of Business. Passionate about education for all, he and his wife Annmarie have created several lecture series and student internship programs at both Earlham College and University of Michigan.

Hawkins and his family live in Michigan and are very active locally and nationally in advocacy for people with disabilities. Hawkins served as a board member of The Arc of the United States. The family also avidly supports professional and community theatre throughout the Great Lakes region.

Hawkins holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech, and masters and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University.