Our Leadership

Eva Csaky, PhD is the executive director and research professor of the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity, where she works closely with partners in academia, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations to develop initiatives that benefit disadvantaged communities locally and globally. Under her leadership, the Institute hosted the largest climate change conference ever held in Dallas, with a focus on the intersection of poverty and climate change. She is also the co-founder of the Inclusive Economy Consortium, which is informed by her extensive experience and research on inclusive economic development.

Prior to joining SMU, Eva worked for the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, for 18 years with a focus on market-based solutions for environmental and social problems. Eva’s expertise is assessing the complex ecosystem that underserved communities operate in, including the market failures they face and the motivation of key stakeholders. Based on that analysis, Eva designs and implements policy interventions in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to address the needs of communities, leveraging social  entrepreneurial and inclusive economic approaches.

A key pillar of Eva’s work is innovative financing approaches, and she is one of the pioneers of blended financial solutions. Using her unique approach, Eva led the design and implementation of projects in 24 countries around the world in areas including energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean water access and sustainable value chains. For her work she has received multiple awards, including the first IFC/World Bank Innovation Award. Most recently, Eva co-authored the study for the G20 “Climate Smart Financing for Small and Medium Enterprises – Enabling Policy frameworks.”

Eva holds an MS in Finance from the George Washington University, an MA in Public Policy from Duke University and a PhD in Public Policy with specialization on Globalization and Development, with a focus on inclusive value chains from Duke University. She presently serves as a member of Dallas Mayor Rawlings’ Poverty Task Force and the Advisory Group for Dallas Chief Resilience Office. She has also served as an advisor to the OECD’s Green Growth Knowledge Platform and is an invited delegate of the Skoll World Forum.

Anna Clark is the co-founder of the Inclusive Economy Consortium. A fellow of the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity, Anna was also a key organizer of the Institute’s 2015 “Climate Extremes” conference, the largest event on the issue ever to be hosted in Dallas. She now puts the social enterprise principles she learned at the Institute into action as president of Heirloom Digital, a multimedia company she founded in 2019. 

Anna began her career as a management consultant with PwC Consulting and IBM. In 2005, she founded EarthPeople Media, a sustainability communication consultancy. In 2017, she joined H+K Strategies as a principal, providing senior counsel in corporate affairs, reputation management and CSR to industry leaders. Her clients and strategic partners have included Fortune 500s such as JCPenney, universities such as Southern Methodist University and Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University in Dubai, and NGOs such as International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of The World Bank. 

An author and speaker, Anna writes the Eco-Leadership column on Greenbiz.com and has contributed to The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and The Dallas Morning News. She serves as a board director for The American Women’s Financial Education Foundation and The Little Things Matter Foundation. She is also an advisor to the OpEd Project and Green Source DFW, which awarded her a Sustainable Leadership Award in 2016.

Anna holds a Master of Arts in Communication from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives with her family in one of the first residences in Dallas to earn a Platinum LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.