Board of Directors of HCF North America

Georges Hatem, President

Chairman, Chief-Executive-Officer and founder of CDS, Mr. Georges Hatem has more than 20 years of management consulting experience. Prior to establishing CDS in 1994, Mr. Hatem worked with prominent consulting firms in the West, where he actively participated in vision engineering, strategy definition, reorganization, and operations improvement projects for companies in the Gulf, the Middle-East, Europe, and the United States. His work also covered a variety of industries such as banking, insurance, construction, manufacturing, distribution, health care, and non-profit organizations.

As an expert with extensive experience across a multitude of sectors and countries, Mr. Hatem is often invited to speak about change management & family businesses, in local, regional, and international forums. Mr. Hatem holds a Master’s and a Post Master degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from INSEAD. He is also the Founder and President of the Philippe Hatem Foundation for a Happy Childhood.

Juan C. Callieri, Secretary

Juan Callieri is a former business executive, board director and investment banker. He is committed to share his broad experience for the purpose of helping develop the Happy Childhood foundation as much as possible for the benefit of vulnerable children around the world.

Pierre Dulaine, Treasurer

Ballroom dancing changed Pierre Dulaine’s life, transforming him from a shy young man to a charismatic, confident world champion. He’s returned the favor, sharing the gift of ballroom first with 30 reluctant students in New York City’s public schools and then, over 20 years, with over 420,000 children in 31 cities around the world. He has supported the Happy Childhood foundation from its very beginning, always eager to use his experience of spreading happiness to children, through dance and beyond.

Michael Cleavenger, member

Michael’s experience in the development field dates back to the mid 90’s when he made a transition from building and selling small companies to working on campaigns for nonprofit institutions. His primary focus has been on campaigns where he raised capital funds, helped to execute financing packages, and assisted in Board Development. Michael helped facilitate transformative capital campaigns at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Merit Music, The Chicago History Museum, Victory Gardens Theater (Biography project), La Rabida Children’s Hospital, and The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Michael graduated from Colgate University and attended the Executive Program at the University of Chicago. He is a participant in the Science of Philanthropy Initiative run by John List and has a certificate from the Center for Nonprofit Management at the Kellogg School (Northwestern University). Over his development career he has facilitated raising more than 100 million dollars for capital projects as well as providing bond issues for project financing and completion.

Charles Debbas, member

Debbas Architecture is an award winning Architectural firm with projects spanning many countries and cultures. Charles Debbas established Debbas Architecture in Berkeley California in 1989 quickly carving a niche as an architect whose work is fluid, well proportioned and non-traditional. In addition to his devotion to his Architectural practice, Charles teaches Architecture and lectures at Stanford University and continues to reinvent a wide range of product designs.

Laetitia Hatem, member 

Laetitia holds a Masters degree from IE Business School,  and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the American University of Beirut. Well travelled and fluent in several languages, Laetitia has already gained experience in charity work by getting herself involved in fund-raising events and by providing field support to children in the context of PHF’s programs in Lebanon. Following her recovering from a spinal cord injury, Laetitia played a major role in convincing the Board of Directors of the foundation to establish a program for children rehabilitation; she also wishes to make use of her own experience for the benefit of those who may come to suffer from a handicap in their own lives.