Dr. Pawan Patil

Dr. Pawan Patil

Founder, InteliCare Solutions Philanthropy; Investment Operations and Advisory, World Bank Group; Founder, House of Innovation Holdings

Dr. Pawan Patil, PhD is a Harvard, Oxford and LSE trained economist, development banker, inventor, award-winning eco-ethical social entrepreneur, and active philanthropist. He improves ecosystem health for people, wildlife, and in doing so, improves millions of young lives for good.

A twenty-five-year veteran of The World Bank Group, Dr. Patil built its multi-billion-dollar sustainable ocean investment portfolio from scratch, placing local people at its center. He’s conceptualized sustainable forestry investments too (and is credited in helping to save wild Giant Pandas from extinction, working with indigenous populations). He brought pioneering analytic, policy and investment rigor to the then nascent blue economy paradigm – before the world’s embrace of the concept. He was awarded WBG’s corporate leadership award, named “Mentor of the Year” for his empathetic leadership, a “Girl Hero” by Nike and “SDG Hero”. He’s cocreated unicorns of value with scaled impact. 

He co-founded youth2youth, the largest decentralized autonomous human-centered organization across the UN system; founded the Global Youth Climate Network, leading the fight for inclusion of young people into the halls of power at Copenhagen COP and beyond – enabling a platform for youth voice and choice for action. Dr. Patil is called The Wizard of Ocean and firmly believes that in nurturing nature, nature nurtures us.