Paolo Galizzi is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable Development Legal Initiative (SDLI) and the Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Program at Fordham Law School’s Leitner Center for International Law and Justice. His teaching and research focus on international law, sustainable development, corporate responsibility, human rights, and climate change law and policy.

Galizzi holds a summa cum laude law degree from the University of Milan (1993), an LLM in Public International Law from the University of London (1995), and a doctorate (1998) on compliance with international environmental obligations. His career has spanned academia in Europe and the U.S., including roles at the University of Milan, University of Verona, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, University of Nottingham, and Imperial College London. In 2004, he joined Fordham as a Marie Curie Fellow and became a full-time professor in 2008.

At Fordham, he founded SDLI and the CSR Program, supported by PVH Corporation. His leadership extends to Fordham’s Summer Programs in South Korea and Ghana. With a deep commitment to Africa, particularly Ghana, he has held visiting professorships at GIMPA and the University of Professional Studies, Accra. His projects focus on access to justice, legal ethics, and prison reform, working closely with Ghana’s judiciary, police, and legal aid institutions.

Galizzi has served as Legal Advisor to former Ghanaian President John A. Kufuor in his UN role on climate change (2014-2015) and advised Ghana’s Prison Service on prisoners’ rights and healthcare. His work includes establishing the Great Lakes Human Rights Moot Court Competition in East Africa, judicial training programs, and legal ethics training in partnership with White & Case. Beyond academia, he has collaborated with international agencies, including the UNDP, UNFPA, and IMF Anti-Corruption Innovation Competition. As a prolific scholar and fundraiser, he has raised over $1 million for his initiatives and published extensively on environmental law, corporate social responsibility, and human rights.