Mary Draves
As chief sustainability officer and vice president of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) for Dow, Mary Draves is passionate about using science, innovation and collaboration to drive transformative and sustainable change. She leads corporate EH&S governance and Dow’s ambitious 2025 Sustainability Goals. Priority areas include solutions for a circular economy, climate change, sustainable chemistry and incorporating nature into business decisions.
Draves previously led Dow’s groundbreaking Valuing Nature Goal, which represents the first-ever commitment by a corporation to formally factor nature into its business decisions. Under her leadership, Dow has enjoyed a highly productive collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Together with TNC, she and her team have helped pioneer tools and create a cultural shift that are enabling Dow sites to make a compelling business case for adopting nature-based project solutions. Dow’s aim is to identify $1 billion worth of value to Dow from projects that enhance nature by 2025. Since launching the goal in 2015, the Company has realized about $275 million of value in nature-based decisions.
Draves joined Dow in 1989 and has held several manufacturing and EH&S leadership roles. During her three decades at Dow, Draves has built a reputation for being an effective and collaborative leader who helps inspire commitment in her teams and attain results. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and Master of Science in technological processes from Saginaw Valley State University. She resides in Midland, Michigan, with her family.
To sum-up, Draves has three professional passions: sustainability, leading people and building effective collaborations. When it comes to personal passions, she is focused on her family, community service and supporting women in STEM careers.