World Economic Forum (WEF) has picked a globally recognized expert in energy technology and innovation, Dr. Cheryl Martin as the Head of Centre for Global Industries and member of the Managing Board.
The Centre for Global Industries is the foremost global multistakeholder platform shaping global and regional industry agendas. It is made up of over 20 industry sectors and employs around 200 strategic specialists in offices in Geneva, New York, Beijing and Tokyo.
In her new role, Cheryl Martin’s responsibilities will be to ensure further growth and development of industry partnerships, deepening private-sector engagement in public-private initiatives aimed at solving critical global challenges. She will work closely with Sarita Nayyar, Chief Operating Officer of the Centre for Global Industries and Managing Director of the World Economic Forum USA. Jim Hagemann Snabe will continue his role as Chairman of the World Economic Forum USA.
Cheryl Martin founded Harwich Partners LLC in 2015 to work with public- and private-sector entities to identify critical business, technology, finance, regulatory and policy drivers to accelerate commercial adoption of new technologies. She recently led a critical aspect of New York State’s comprehensive Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy.
In 2013-2014, she served as Acting Director of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), while also serving as the agency’s Deputy Director for Commercialization.
Prior to that she was an Executive in Residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which she joined after a 20-year career with Rohm and Haas Company, where she started her career as a Senior Scientist for the company’s Plastics Additive business and was most recently general manager for the Paint and Coatings Materials business in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Cheryl Martin holds a BA in chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross and a PhD in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is active in the American Chemical Society (ACS) and serves on the Board of Directors for Philabundance, the greater Philadelphia region’s largest hunger relief organization.
Responding to her appointment, Cheryl Martin said: “I am honoured to be joining the World Economic Forum at this critical moment in time – the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I am excited to bring my leadership experience in the public and private sectors and my passion for innovation and technology to this important effort in multistakeholder cooperation. I am fully dedicated to building the partnerships required to shape industry agendas to fulfil the Forum’s commitment of improving the state of the world.”
Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, observed that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will affect every industry and has the capability of delivering vast economic and social value.
“It also brings with it unprecedented disruption, the likes of which we are only now beginning to witness.
Cheryl’s addition to our leadership team will enhance the World Economic Forum’s ability to act as a trusted partner in this transformation by helping business translate the technological and scientific changes we are undergoing into benefits for all humankind.” [myad]
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