Frederic Schmidt

Frederic serves as Dunecrest's CEO, bringing 15 years of experience in strategy consulting and public policy across emerging and developing economies. His work sits at the intersection of climate finance and sustainable development, helping public institutions, private investors, and non-profit organisations turn climate ambition into investable programmes.

At Dunecrest, Frederic co-directs two regional programmes for the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) covering Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Oman, delivered under a Green Climate Fund (GCF) readiness programme designed with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The work spans diagnosing the institutional, regulatory, and financial barriers that hold private capital back from climate investment; building the diagnostic and pipeline tools that national authorities use to identify and strengthen candidate accredited entities; and translating that analysis into country action plans and accreditation roadmaps. He has also advised Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy on engaging non-profit organisations in the energy sector, with a focus on renewable energy, the General Authority for Awqaf (GAA) to establish an innovative financial institution for socioeconomic development, and the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector (NCNP) to strengthen the non-profit ecosystem.

Prior to Dunecrest, Frederic was Principal Consultant with Energe Networks, where he led public policy engagements in Saudi Arabia across the environmental and social sectors for clients including the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), the NAMA Foundation, and the Associations Support Fund (ASF). This included a climate and environment strategy spanning nature-based solutions, carbon markets, water management, and biodiversity, and the design of a blended finance mechanism now supporting more than 3,600 social sector organisations.

Before that, Frederic was Consulting Manager at Eden Strategy Institute in Singapore, leading consultant teams on social innovation and sustainable development challenges across Southeast Asia. His clients spanned government and multilateral institutions (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Economic Development Board of Singapore, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Enterprise Singapore, DesignSingapore Council, the Singapore Institute of Planners, and the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence), the non-profit sector (the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, raiSE), and private sector clients including DBS Bank, Sumitomo Corporation, Samsung, Habasit, and Bosch-Siemens Home Appliances. His consulting work has taken him on the ground in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.

Frederic began his career in water and development finance: with the World Toilet Organization, a water and sanitation non-governmental organisation, and as pre-investment analyst at Devenco, a Cambodia-based private equity fund investing for economic and social development.

Frederic is also a certified executive coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), with further professional training from the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC), and Trompenaars Hampden-Turner. He has supported over 100 clients from more than 25 nationalities, trained and onboarded over 30 consultants, and contributed to numerous business and social enterprise competitions as a mentor and judge.

Frederic holds a bachelor's degree from EDHEC Business School in France, with a specialisation in finance and international business management, and is trained in AGILE project management.