Pawan G. Patil, PhD is a development banker, Harvard, Oxford and London School of Economics trained economist and serial social entrepreneur. Over twenty-five years with the World Bank Group, he’s followed his twin passions: co-developing the multi-billion-dollar portfolio on Oceans, Sustainable Fisheries and the Blue Economy, and co-creating social enterprises and initiatives in support of adolescent girls and young people, where he’s improved millions of lives for good. A pioneer and global thought leader on assisting nations and businesses transition toward a sustainable ocean economy, his work has been featured in dozens of peer reviewed journals and newspapers, including The Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, Huffington Post, and Nature.
Dr. Patil is the recipient of several innovation awards in support of ocean-facing developing countries and as a global advocate for young people. Selected as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, he served on WEF’s Global Agenda Council for Oceans and co-created WEF’s Global Shapers Community as a founding curator. He helped Nike Inc. and WBG raise global supply chain standards for the apparel industry and changed the odds for girls as a founding advisory board member of Nike Foundation and the girl effect global campaign. For this, he was named a “Girl Hero.” He co-founded and co-chaired World Bank Group Youth2Youth (Y2Y) with president James D. Wolfensohn, which has become the WBG’s largest and longest serving community network. With The Nature Conservancy and industry partners, Pawan co-created Mapping Ocean Wealth – which was awarded the Tourism for Tomorrow Innovation Award at WTTC’s annual Global Tourism Summit. He is now focused on deploying eco-innovation solutions to addressing plastic pollution across South Asia and beyond.
Having lived, travelled or worked in over 160 countries, Pawan currently lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife of over twenty-five years and two children. In his free time, he enjoys creative arts projects and can be found in/on/around the closest ocean.