Young Alumni Achievement Award 2023: Lily Hakim '07

Bio

Lily Hakim is the Director of Executive Operations in the office of the CEO at Pfizer. In this role, she works closely with the CEO and executive leadership team on day-to-day operations, key initiatives, internal and external stakeholder interactions, and deliverables for Pfizer’s Board of Directors meetings. Lily was on the editing team for the CEO’s book about the company’s experience developing a COVID-19 vaccine, Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible, which appeared on the Wall Street Journal Bestsellers list for four weeks. 

During the pandemic and immediately prior to joining the CEO’s office, she led the financial management of Pfizer's Vaccine Research and Development (R&D) division. In the Spring of 2020, Lily submitted and was responsible for the clinical trial budget for the company’s landmark COVID-19 clinical trial, which resulted in a lifesaving vaccine that was approved by the FDA in record time. It was the largest clinical trial budget in Pfizer’s 170+ year history.

Prior to Pfizer, Lily was at the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics. As a member of the CFO’s staff, she advised leaders on c-suite matters, corresponded with government officials and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and issued corporate position papers on complex accounting-related issues. In March 2014, she presented one of her accounting positions at a Department of Defense hearing at the Washington Navy Yard, which led to the resolution of a multi-million dollar claim in the Company’s favor.  

Lily’s career navigating complexities of highly regulated industries like pharma and defense began with public accounting. She got her start at the former Times Square headquarters of Ernst & Young as a senior associate in the assurance practice. It is here that she first honed her skills for interacting with senior leaders on sensitive topics. 

Complementing her career in the healthcare industry has been Lily’s advocacy for alopecia awareness. As a vocal member of the patient community, Lily’s alopecia story was featured in Pfizer’s 2020 annual report and in November 2021 she shared her lifelong journey with the disease on the “Very Nearly Almost” podcast. She has given talks and sat on panels to raise awareness about the condition and the importance of pursuing medical solutions. Lily tutors students in college accounting and business courses and has been a violinist in orchestras on Long Island and in Connecticut, and in recent years joined high school pit orchestras for productions of The Mikado, Oliver, Pippen, and other musicals. 

Lily graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management (CALS, Dyson School) and received a M.S. in Accountancy from the University of Virginia. She is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State. She was proud to be named the University of Virginia 2022 Beverly Cobble Rodriguez Lecturer, where she gave a presentation entitled “A Seat at the Table,” and she is deeply honored to be a 2023 CALS Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient.