THE METROPOLITAN CENTURY:
POLICIES FOR RESILIENT AND INCLUSIVE CITIES
Sixth OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers
Palacio de Minería – Mexico City
16 October 2015
Participants’ biographies
Who’s who
HOSTS | ANFITRIONES
Angel Gurría is the Secretary-General of the OECD since June 2006. He was reappointed to a second mandate in September 2010. As OECD SecretaryGeneral, he has reinforced the OECD's role as a ‘hub” for global dialogue and
debate on economic policy issues while pursuing internal modernisation and
reform. Mr. Gurría is a Mexican national and came to the OECD following a
distinguished career in public service in his country, including positions as
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance and Public Credit in the
1990s. Mr. Gurría holds a B.A. degree in Economics from UNAM (Mexico) and a
M.A. degree in Economics from Leeds University (United Kingdom). He is
married and has three children.
Mr. Ángel Gurría
Secretary General
OECD / OCDE
Ms. Rosario Robles Berlanga
Minister of Agrarian, Territorial and
Urban Development (SEDATU)
MEXICO
Before being appointed Minister of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban
Development, Ms. Robles Berlanga was Minister of Social Development (
SEDESOL). She was Mayor of Mexico City from 1999-2000 and following that,
President of the National Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) until 2003.
Before joining the public service in 1997 when she became Secretary of
Government in Mexico City Government, she was a Professor at the National
University (UNAM). She has authored and co-authored several books and
articles on poverty in Mexico, the situation in the Mexican countryside and
gender issues. She is active on these issues through organisations such as
Intelligence Center (a consultancy firm designed to empower women) and
“Women Plural” and gives lectures at Congresses and National and
International Conferences. Ms Robles Berlanga holds a BA in Economics,
National University of Mexico. MA in Rural Development, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma, Xochimilco.
Mayor Mancera was born in Mexico City on January 16th, 1966. He holds a PhD
Degree in Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
and since December 5th, 2012 holds the position of Mayor of Mexico City, for
which he was elected with the highest vote recorded in the history of the
Mexican capital. Mancera Espinosa graduated with honors and received the
Gabino Barreda and “Diario de México” medals, awarded to the best students
of UNAM and Mexico respectively for his undergraduate studies; and the
Alfonso Caso Medal for his postgraduate studies. He has held different
positions in the Government of Mexico City. From 2008-2012 Mancera Espinosa
was Attorney General of Mexico City.
Mr. Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa
Mayor of Mexico City
MEXICO
Mr. Alejandro Murat Hinojosa
Director General
INFONAVIT
MEXICO
An active member of a new generation of Mexican politicians, Alejandro Murat
was born on August 4th, 1975 and was raised in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Alejandro Murat is a lawyer with an up-raising career in the public service. He is
currently holding the position of CEO at the Institute of the National Housing
Fund for Workers (Infonavit); an organization that has been dedicated, for
more than 42 years, to provide affordable mortgages to Mexican workers. In
the past, he served as a federal representative, creating and leading the
Competitiveness and Regional Development Commission. At the State of
Mexico´s government, he held the position of Director General of the Registry
Function Institute and of the State Radio and Television System. Additionally,
Mr. Murat was the Housing Sector Coordinator of President-elect, Enrique Peña
Nieto’s transition team. As Infonavit’s CEO, Mr. Murat has implemented a
transformative agenda to provide better housing solutions and higher returns
to workers’ savings. For example, he increased in 76% the maximum mortgage
amount, allowing right-holders to acquire higher value and better located
homes. Moreover, he implemented a new investment regime that will provide
more efficient returns to the savings accounts of the 17 million Infonavit’s
affiliated workers. During 2015, he will continue pushing forward innovative
housing financial solutions to strengthen the rental and secondary market of
houses in Mexico. He holds a B.A. degree in Law from Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México (ITAM) a Masters’ degree in Law and a Master in
International Affairs, both from Columbia University in New York.
CHAIRS | Presidentes
Mr. Rohit Aggarwala
Co-chair of the Fourth Regional Plan
for the New York metropolitan area
REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION
Mr. Don Chen
Director of Metropolitan
Opportunity
FORD FOUNDATION
Yamina Djacta
Director
New York Office
UN-HABITAT
Rohit T. “Rit” Aggarwala is part of Sidewalk Labs, an urban innovation venture
founded by Dan Doctoroff in collaboration with Google. He is also co-chair of the
Regional Plan Association’s Fourth Regional Plan for the New York metropolitan
area, and an adjunct professor of international and public affairs at Columbia
University. From 2010 to 2015, Rit played several key roles at Bloomberg
Philanthropies: these included leading the turnaround of the C40 Cities Climate
Leadership Group, a global network of cities working on climate change; creating
an environmental grant making program; and creating the sustainability and real
estate practice of Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consulting firm serving
city governments. Aggarwala served as Director of New York City’s Office of
Long-Term Planning and Sustainability from 2006-10, and led the creation and
implementation of “PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York.” PlaNYC has been
hailed as one of the world’s best urban sustainability plans, leading New York
City to a 19% reduction in its carbon footprint since 2005. Prior to joining City
Hall, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Aggarwala
holds a BA, MBA, and PhD from Columbia University, and an MA from Queen’s
University in Ontario. He was born in New York City, where he now lives with
wife and daughter.
Don Chen directs the foundation’s Metropolitan Opportunity work. His team
supports urban development strategies to reduce poverty, expand economic
opportunities and advance sustainability in cities and regions in the U.S. and
developing countries—with a focus on shaping the delivery systems for affordable
housing, community improvement, infrastructure and city and regional planning.
Don joined the foundation in 2008 as a program officer in Metropolitan
Opportunity. Earlier, he was the founder and CEO of Smart Growth America, where
he led efforts to create the National Vacant Properties Campaign and
Transportation for America, and managed a merger with the Growth Management
Leadership Alliance. He has authored many pieces on land use, transportation,
social equity and environmental policy, including “Growing Cooler: The Academic
Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change” (2008, co-author) and “The
Science of Smart Growth,” which appeared in the December 2000 issue of Scientific
American. Don has also served on the boards of the Funders’ Network for Smart
Growth and Livable Communities, West Harlem Environmental Action, the
Environmental Leadership Program and Grist magazine. He holds a master’s
degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a
bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University.
Ms. Yamina Djacta has been working in the areas of policy analysis, planning,
programme development, management, capacity development, as well as
monitoring and evaluation for over 30 years at the national and international
level. Currently, she is serving as the Director of the New York Office of the United
Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Her career with the
United Nations began at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
the area of public administration modernization and capacity development, with
a focus on francophone Africa. She then joined UN-Habitat, serving in various
positions working on urban issues within UN-Habitat, in Nairobi as well as in New
York. Ms. Yamina Djacta holds a “Licence ès sciences économiques” and a Master
of Business Administration (MBA), with a major on International Management.
She also undertook post-graduate studies in Corporate Finance.
Ms. Tanya Müller
Secretary of Environment
Mexico City
MEXICO
Mr. Josep Roig
Secretary-General
Tanya Müller García holds a Master’s degree in International Agriculture
Economics and Management from Humboldt University of Berlin; she is an
Agronomist Engineer with a specialization in Horticulture from the Agricultural
Panamerican School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and a Specialization on
Environmental Law and Natural Resources from the Autonomous Technological
Institute of Mexico (ITAM). She holds a Postgraduate in Hydrometeorology by the
Ministry of Transport at Tel Aviv, Israel. In 2014 she was elected by the United
Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to be one of the 12 members of the UN
High Level Advisory Group for Sustainable Transport. Tanya Müller is founding
director of World Urban Parks. She is also founder and Vice President of the
World Green Infrastructure Network, a worldwide association dedicated to the
promotion of green infrastructure in different regions of the world and president
of the Mexican Green Roofs Civil Association (AMENA A.C.), dedicated to the
research and dissemination of green roofs and walls.
Josep Roig has been the Secretary General of United Cities and Local
Governments since September 2011.He is a founding member of Metropolis, the
metropolitan section of UCLG, created in 1985, and became Secretary General of
Metropolis in 1999. Previously, Mr. Roig worked in the Barcelona Metropolitan
Corporation (1983-1990, 1996-2000, 2009-2011), holding a number of different
positions, including Financial Director and Deputy Director General. In his
academic career, he has held the posts of Lecturer in Urban and Regional
Planning at the Department of Economics of the University of Barcelona (19771985) and Director General of the University of Barcelona (1990-1994). He
graduated in Economics from the University of Barcelona (1967-1972) and also
received a Fulbright Scholarship from the University of Southern California (19741977).
UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS (UCLG)
SCENE SETTING / RAPPORTEURS
Ana Marie Argilagos
Senior Advisor
FORD FOUNDATION
Ana Marie Argilagos is senior advisor to the foundation's Just Cities initiative. Her
work focuses on urban development strategies to reduce poverty, expand economic
opportunity, and advance sustainability in cities and regions across the world. She
is also currently an adjunct professor of international urban planning at New York
University’s Wagner School of Public Service. Before joining the foundation in 2014,
Ana Marie served as deputy chief of staff and deputy assistant secretary at the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). There, she created the
Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI). The IPI model of sourcing
innovation and leveraging partnerships from broad global networks is now being
successfully replicated at other federal cabinet agencies and cities across the US.
Earlier, Ana Marie spent eight years as a senior program officer at the Annie E.
Casey Foundation in Baltimore, where she spearheaded the foundation’s work in
rural areas, indigenous communities, and in the US-Mexico border region. With
experience in both the public and non-profit sectors—serving as educational
programs manager at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists; director of
the New Workplace for Women Project at the National Council of La Raza; and
deputy director of AYUDA, a community-based legal clinic serving immigrants in
Washington, DC—Ana Marie has proven to be an entrepreneurial thinker who
bridges diverse agendas and achieves results. Ana Marie earned her bachelor’s
degree in international relations from The American University, and a master’s in
public administration from Harvard University.
Mr. Gino van Begin
Secretary-General
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FOR
SUSTAINABILITY (ICLEI)
Mr. Michael Berkowitz
President of 100 Resilient Cities
ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
Mr. Andrés Blanco
Senior Specialist in Urban
Development and Housing
INTER-AMERICAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK (IDB)
Gino Van Begin is ICLEI's distinguished Secretary-General. Gino has served as the
ICLEI Regional Director for Europe since 2002 and as ICLEI’s Deputy Secretary
General since 2007. Gino has consistently and comprehensively worked over the
last 14 years towards ensuring ICLEI’s quality as a responsible, professional, non
for profit, local government organization in Europe and worldwide. Gino has
been a member of the EU Expert Group to the European Commission on the
Urban Environment from 2003-06, and a member of the European Commission’s
Jury on the European Green Capital. Before joining ICLEI in 2000, Gino worked as
advisor and as Team Leader at the EU-funded Environmental Centres for
Administration and Technology in Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg, Russia for
seven years. From 1987-93, he was a legal advisor at the European Commission’s
DG Environment, General Secretariat and DG External relations. Trained as a
lawyer from the University of Brussels, Gino speaks Dutch, French, English,
German and Russian.
Michael Berkowitz joined the Rockefeller Foundation in August 2013 to shape
and oversee the 100 Resilient Cities initiative. Previously, he worked at Deutsche
Bank, most recently as the deputy global head of Operational Risk Management
(ORM). In that capacity he oversaw the firm’s OR capital planning efforts, served
as a primary regulatory contact and connected the myriad operational risk
management efforts group-wide. Other positions at DB were Chief Operating
Officer of Corporate Security, Business Continuity (CSBC) and Operational Risk
Management. Prior to December 2010, he was the CSBC head in APAC
responsible for all business continuity planning and alternate site operations, as
well as physical security, executive and event protection, fraud investigation and
prevention, and cybercrime. Between 2005 and 2008 he had management roles
for DB in Mumbai, India and New York. Until January 2005, he was Deputy
Commissioner at the Office of Emergency Management in New York City. In this
position he worked on major planning initiatives, including the New York City
Coastal Storm, Biological Terrorism and Transit Strike contingency plans.
Andres G Blanco is Senior Specialist in Urban Development and Housing at the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Previously, he was an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of
Florida. His work is centered on the economic aspects of planning in areas like
housing, land use, urban and land economics, and local economic development.
He received his Bachelor degree in Economics in 1999 and his Master of Science
in Regional Development Planning in 2005 from the Universidad de los Andes in
Bogotá. In 2010, he received his doctoral degree in City and Regional Planning
from Cornell University. Andres has worked as a researcher and consultant in
different projects involving urban planning, economic development, and public
policy evaluation for organizations like the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the
United Nations Development Program, and local and regional governments in
Latin America and the United States. He has published his work in renowned
journals in the field like Planning Theory, Urban Studies, Transportation Research
Board and Housing Policy Debate among others. Andres published two books
about rental housing in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014 and is currently
researching about social housing policies and land value capture mechanisms. In
addition, he is working with several national and local governments in the region
in the design and implementation of policies related to urban development and
housing.
Mr. Armando Carbonell
Chair of Planning and Urban Form
LINCOLN INSTITUTE OF LAND
POLICY
Mr. José Carrera
Corporate Vice-President
of Social Development
DEVELOPMENT BANK OF LATIN
AMERICA (CAF)
Mr. Ani Dasgupta
Global Director, WRI Ross Center for
Sustainable Cities
WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
(WRI)
Carbonell chairs the urban planning department at the Lincoln Institute of Land
Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Appointed in 1999, he has led the Institute
into new topics--global urbanization, planning for climate change, environmental
risk in Latin America, spatial planning, large landscape conservation, and the
development of new planning tools--through an active portfolio of research
projects and publications. For the past fifteen years, he has led an annual Big City
Planning Directors Institute in Cambridge for the thirty largest U.S cities in
collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Design and American
Planning Association. Carbonell has taught urban planning at Harvard and the
University of Pennsylvania and served as an editor of the British journal Town
Planning Review. He has consulted on master plans in Houston, Texas and Fujian
Province, China and is the author and editor of numerous works on urban
planning. He led, as founding Executive Director, the campaign to create the
Cape Cod Commission, an innovative regional planning and land use regulatory
agency established by the Massachusetts legislature. During his tenure on Cape
Cod, Carbonell chaired the National Research Council committee. He has been
recognized by the American Planning Association, Royal Town Planning Institute,
United States House of Representatives, University of Manchester, University of
British Columbia, and, most recently, Britain’s Academy of Social Sciences.
José A. Carrera is the Corporate Vice-President of Social Development and the
Environment at CAF since 2008. In 1999 Carrera joined CAF as Deputy Manager
at the Corporate Planning Office; and, between 2000 and 2003 worked as
Assistant Director of Country Programs. Later on, from 2003 to 2008 he worked
as Country Director and Resident Representant of CAF at Bolivia. Previous senior
positions at the public sector include: Deputy Minister of Finance of Ecuador, in
this capacity, concurrently served as alternate Governor of the Inter-American
Development Bank and the World Bank; he has worked as Deputy Secretary of
Budget and Treasury at the Ministry of Finance of Ecuador; Director of Fiscal and
Financial Policy at the Central Bank of Ecuador. He has served at the Board of
Directors of: the Ecuadorean Institute of Electricity, PETROECUADOR, the
National Council of Securities and Capital Markets, and the Council of National
Security of Ecuador. In the private sector he has served at the Board of Directors
of various financial institutions and has held managerial positions at the capital
markets industry. Mr. Carrera holds an Economist Degree of the Catholic
University of Ecuador (PUCE), a M.A. Economics and doctoral studies in
Economics, of the University of Notre Dame
Aniruddha (Ani) Dasgupta is the Global Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable
Cities. Ani guides WRI Sustainable Cities in developing environmentally, socially,
and financially sustainable solutions to improve people’s quality of life in
developing cities. Ani also serves as a member of WRI’s global management team,
helping to shape the institute’s overall strategy and growth. Prior to joining WRI,
Ani served at the Director of Knowledge and Learning at the World Bank. Before
leading the Bank’s knowledge work, he coordinated the Bank’s internal reform
program as the Director of the Reform Secretariat. Prior to this, Ani spent the
majority of this career in the operational part of the Bank. An urban professional,
Ani has dedicated himself for over 15 years to international development with a
focus on the urbanization, urban environment and infrastructure. Ani holds a
Master’s Degree in City Planning and a Master’s Degree in Architecture, both from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His PhD work, at the planning school
at MIT, focused on services for urban poor. He received a Bachelor degree in
Architecture with an emphasis on low Income Housing from the School of Planning
and Architecture in India. He has researched and written widely on Community
Driven and Community Based development, urban poverty in East Asia, and more
recently on Knowledge and Learning for development. He lives in Washington DC
with his wife and twin boys.
Mr. Vincent Fouchier
Chair
Vincent Fouchier, Chair of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Policy in Urban
Areas and delegate representing France, is the director of the Aix-MarseilleProvence metropolitan area planning project. Previously he was Deputy Director
General of the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning in the Île-de-France
Region (IAU-ÎdF) where he co-ordinated the Department of Planning and
Sustainable Development. Mr. Fouchier teaches at Sciences-Po, Paris, and
lectures at the University of Paris I (Sorbonne) and the Ecole des Ponts et
Chaussées. Mr. Fouchier holds a doctorate in urban planning from the University
of Paris VIII. He has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.
Previously he was Deputy Director General of the Institute of Urban and Regional
Planning in the Île-de-France Region (IAU-ÎdF) where he co-ordinated the Paris
Region master plan.
OECD WORKING PARTY
ON URBAN POLICY
Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz has been the Manager of the Institutions for
Development Department at the IDB since February 2011. She previously served
as Manager of the IDB’s Andean Country Group. Since joining the Bank in 1991,
Ms. Rodriguez-Ortiz has occupied several positions, including Senior Advisor to
the Office of the Presidency, the IDB’s Country Representative in Peru, as well as
Chief Advisor to the Executive Vice President. She has also been Chief of the
Finance and Basic Infrastructure Division of the Regional Operations of the
Andean and Caribbean countries; Chief of the Country Division for Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela; and Technical Advisor to the Bank’s Executive Vice
President. Prior to working at the IDB, she served as Economic Advisor to the
President of the National Banking Association in Colombia; worked at the Central
Bank of Colombia and at Colombia’s Banco Central Hipotecario (Central
Mortgage Bank). Ms. Rodriguez-Ortiz, a citizen of Colombia, holds a Master of
Arts in Development Economics from Williams College in Massachusetts and a
degree in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.
***
Ms. Ana María Rodríguez-Ortiz
Manager of Institutions for
Development
INTER-AMERICAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK (IADB)
Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz se desempeña como Gerente del Sector de
Instituciones para el Desarrollo desde febrero de 2011. Anteriormente se
desempeñó como Gerente del Departamento de Países del Grupo Andino. Desde
que se incorporó al Banco en 1991, la Sra. Rodriguez-Ortiz ha ocupado diversos
cargos, entre ellos como Asesora Principal de la Oficina de la Presidencia,
Representante del BID en el Perú y Asesora Jefe de la Vicepresidencia Ejecutiva.
También ha sido jefe del Comité de Finanzas e Infraestructura Básica de la
División del Departamento Regional de Países Andinos y Caribeños, Jefe de la
División de País para Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela, y Asesora Técnica de
la Vicepresidencia Ejecutiva. Antes de trabajar en el BID, se desempeñó como
Asesora Económica del Presidente de la Asociación Bancaria Nacional en
Colombia, trabajó en el Banco Central de Colombia y en el Banco Central
Hipotecario de Colombia. La señora Rodriguez-Ortiz, ciudadana colombiana,
tiene una maestría en Economía del Desarrollo otorgada por el Williams College
en Massachusetts y una licenciatura en Economía obtenida en la Universidad de
Los Andes en Bogotá.
Ms. Sara Topelson de Grinberg
General Co-ordinator
FOUNDATION CENTRE FOR
HOUSING RESEARCH AND
DOCUMENTATION (CIDOC)
Mr. Keith Thorpe (OBE)
London
DEPARTMENT FOR
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT (DCLG)
Sara Topelson de Grinberg, is an architect, active in many fields. Designer,
teacher, urban planner, has participated in architectural associations worldwide
and for the past ten years, she has been part of México’s government in Federal
and Municipal capacities. Named Mexico’s Woman of the Year 1996. Mrs.
Grinberg was President of the International Union of Architects (UIA) 1996 –
1999. During her more than 36 year career as a partner in the architectural firm
Grinberg & Topelson, she has developed projects in the fields of urban planning,
industry, education, culture, residential and low-income housing. Sara was a
professor at Universidad Anahuac, conducting workshops in urban and
architectural design and teaching history of architecture. She received in May
2000 the Academic’s Merit Medal, for more than 25 years of Excellency in
academic work. From 2001 to 2003, she was Director of Architecture of the
National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico; promoting conservation of XX century
architecture through register, publications and exhibitions at the National
Museum of Architecture. She was General Director of Urban Development for the
municipality of Huixquilucan, State of Mexico - MEXICO, 2003 – 2004. In 2003 she
founded DOCOMOMO MEXICO, with a group of historians and researchers and is
currently Vicepresident of the chapter. Sara is an Honorary Fellow of the
American Institute of Architects, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the
Japan Institute of Architects, recently became honorary member of the Royal
Institute of British Architects and of the Spanish Council of Architects, among
others. Mrs. Topelson is an Academic Emeritus at the Mexico’s Academia
Nacional de Arquitectura. For the past six years she was Undersecretary for
Urban Planning and Territorial Management at the Ministry of Social works,
SEDESOL. Currently she conducts the Housing Documentation and Research
Center (CIDOC), Mexico, founded in 2000 where she promotes research projects,
and has published yearly “The State of Mexico’s Housing” (2004 -2012). She
participates actively in the design team of Grinberg & Topelson Arquitectos. Since
October 2014 she is Chairman of Urban Land Institute Mexico Delegation.
Keith Thorpe currently works in the Cities and Local Growth Directorate at the UK
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in London, providing
policy advice, support and coordination on cities and urban policy, including
coastal towns and Olympic Legacy. He is a Member of the Royal Town Planning
Institute and was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in
the Queen’s New Year Honours list 2008 for his contributions to city planning and
urban policy in England. He has worked in a wide range of research and
administrative posts in UK Central Government Departments and Government
Regional Offices during his Civil Service career covering housing, city planning,
regeneration, and regional economic policy, including serving as Inquiry
Secretary to the Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Inquiries (1995-1999). He is a Vice
Chair of the OECD’s Urban Working Party and has served as UK delegate to the
OECD Regional Development Policy Committee since 2003, participating in a
number of city, metropolitan area and related peer reviews. He has recently
undertaken work for the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in
connection with HABITAT III and participated in a Country Review of Armenia.
OECD | OCDE
Ms. Mari Kiviniemi
Deputy Secretary-General
Mr. Rolf Alter
Director
Public Governance and Territorial
Development
Mr. José Viegas
Secretary-General
International Transport Forum (ITF)
Mari Kiviniemi took up her duties as OECD Deputy Secretary-General on 25
August 2014. Her role consists of sharing her extensive experience to help
increase the impact and relevance of OECD work and to contribute to the public
policy challenges of promoting inclusive growth, jobs, equality and trust. She is
responsible for the strategic oversight of the OECD’s work on Efficient and
Effective Governance; Territorial Development; Trade and Agriculture, as well as
Statistics. She is also responsible for advancing the better Life Initiative. Ms.
Kiviniemi was Finland’s Prime Minister from 2010 to 2011. Previously, she was
Special Advisor on Economic Policy to the Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign
Trade and Development, Minister for European Affairs and Minister of Public
Administration and Local Government. Elected for the first time at the age of 26,
she was a Member of Parliament from 1995 to 2014, chairing and participating in
a vast number of committees. She also held a variety of leadership positions in
her political party, the Finnish Centre Party. An economist by training, she studied
political science at the University of Helsinki and holds a Master's Degree in Social
Sciences. Born in 1968, she is married and has two children.
Mr. Rolf Alter is Director for Public Governance and Territorial Development of
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
He leads a team of 150 staff to support governments in improving their public
sector performance for the well-being of citizens and the competitiveness of
their economies. Key areas include institutional reform, innovation,
transparency and integrity in the public sector, results-oriented budgeting,
regulatory reform, and the economics of regions and cities. Under his
leadership, the Directorate pursues a rich programme of co-operation with nonmember countries and international institutions to advance the research on
empirical evidence and good policy practices of public sector economics and
governance. Previously, Mr. Alter was Chief of Staff of OECD Secretary-General
Mr. Angel Gurría. He joined the OECD in 1991. Throughout his career with
OECD he held different positions in the Economics Department and the
Department of Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs. Between 1996 and 1998,
Mr. Alter was an advisor to the Executive Director of the OECD, Mr. JeanJacques Noreau. Prior to joining the OECD, Mr. Alter was an economist in the
International Monetary Fund, in Washington D.C. He started his professional
career in 1981 in the German Ministry of Economy in Bonn. He is currently a
member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. Mr. Alter
holds a doctorate degree from the University of Goettingen, Germany,
following post-graduate work in Germany and the United States.
José Viegas has been Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum at
the OECD since August 2012. A Portuguese national, Mr. Viegas has had a
distinguished career in academia and in the private sector before joining the
Forum as its chief executive. A full Professor of Transport at the Technical
University of Lisbon, he served as Director of MIT-Portugal’s Transport Systems
focus area and founded TRANSPORTNET, a group of eight European University
Research Groups in Transport Systems. As chairman of TIS.pt consultants he
successfully advised governments and international institutions including the
World Bank and the European Commission on a number of high-profile policy
initiatives and transport projects. Mr. Viegas holds a PHD in Civil Engineering
from the Technical University in Lisbon and undertook postgraduate studies in
regional Studies at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He speaks fluent
Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian.
Mr. Joaquim Oliveira Martins
Head of the Regional Development
Policy Division
Ms. Setsuko Saya
Head of the Regional Policies
for Sustainable Development
Division
Dr. Rudiger Ahrend
Head of Urban Policy Program
Joaquim Oliveira Martins is the Head of the OECD Regional Development Policy
Division. Current projects cover the determinants and distribution of regional
growth, regional innovation, urban development and green growth and multilevel governance. He was the former Head of the Structural Economic Statistics
Division, focusing on Trade and Globalisation indicators, Productivity
measurement and Business statistics. Previously, he was Senior Economist at
the Economics Department heading projects on the Economics of Education,
Ageing and Growth, and Health Systems. He was also Head of Desk for
emerging markets, where he was in charge of the first Economic Surveys of
Brazil, Chile and several transition countries. Other OECD projects include
monographs on Competition, Regulation and Performance and Policy Response
to the Threat of Global Warming. He was also Research Fellow at the CEPII
(Centre d’Etudes Prospectives et d’Informations Internationales, Paris). He is
Associate Professor at the University of Paris-Dauphine. He holds a PhD in
Economics from the University of Paris-I, Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Setsuko Saya is the head of the Regional Policies for Sustainable Development
Division of the OECD. She joined in the OECD in April 2012, where she engaged
in sustainable development policies for cities and regions. She launched
“Compact City Policies” (2012) and "Ageing in Cities” (2015), and currently is
leading the project “Resilient Cities”. She has been working very closely with
cities for those projects and successfully inviting their collaboration into the
OECD’s activities. Prior to the OECD, she worked at the Japanese Ministry of
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, where she focused on urban and
housing policies. Setsuko Saya has her MBA from Haas School of Business,
University of California, and BA in law from University of Tokyo.
Dr Rudiger Ahrend is Head of the Urban Program in the OECD’s Directorate for
Public Governance and Territorial Development. In this capacity, he is
supervising numerous projects related to metropolitan development and
governance, and national urban policies. At the OECD, where he started as an
official in 2002, Rudiger Ahrend worked as a Senior Economist in the OECD’s
Economic Department. Prior to joining OECD, he worked as a researcher and
independent consultant. In addition to his work on OECD countries, he has
extensively worked on Russia and other emerging economies, and has
published widely, both in academic journals and newspapers. Rudiger Ahrend
holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, as well as
degrees in Social Sciences and Mathematics from the University of Göttingen,
Paris-IX Dauphine, and the Sorbonne.
COUNTRY | País
BULGARIA | Bulgaria
Ms. Lilyana Pavlova
Minister of Regional Development
and Public Works
Mrs. Lilyana Pavlova holds a Doctor's degree of Economics, Master’s degree in
"Public Administration and European Integration" and Bachelor’s degree in
"International Economic Relations". In 1996 she started her career at the
Institute for the Development of Democracy. Then she successively held the
positions: Finance Manager of Programme PHARE, "Program for managers’
training", Office manager for project of PHARE - Tempus National Academic
Center for management and capital markets; Expert on international projects
at the Institute of postgraduate studies at the University of World and National
Economy and Expert in the Coordinating unit for the ISPA Programme to the
Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. From 2002 to 2009 Mrs.
Lilyana Pavlova was Head of Department "National Fund" to the Ministry of
Finance where she was responsible for the financial management, control and
monitoring of the pre-accession instruments PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD and
Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. In August 2009, she became Deputy
Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, responsible for the EU
funds and programs’ management. On 9 September 2011, she was elected as
Minister of Regional Development and Public Works in the government of the
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov - a post she held by the end of his mandate in
2013. She was a Member of Parliament at the 42nd National Assembly. On 7th
November 2014, she was elected as Minister of Regional Development and
Public Works in the second government of the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
CHILE | Chile
Mr. Luis Alberto Mella Gajardo
Mayor of Quillota
Medical Surgeon, 53 years old, Quillota’s City Mayor since 1992 with six
consecutive re-elections. Founder of several social and solidarity-related
iniciatives: Charitable Home “AMENCRI” (that aids elders with social
vulnerability), shelter for the terminally ill “Beatita Benavides”, BanAmor
(Solidarity Bank that is instrumental in building and strengthening social capital
and promoting the value of solidarity). Director of the shelters founded by him.
Honorary member of the Rotary Club; distinction awarded for his altruistic
work. Awarded for his iniciative “BanAmor” on the 2nd Meeting of Happiness
and Healthy Relationships, organized by the Institute of Welfare (Chile). During
this year (2015) he received an award from the “Piensa” fundation for being
the best evaluated politician of the region.
Ms. Paulina Saball Astaburuaga
Minister of Housing and Urbanism
Ms. Saball has a large experience in public policy, especially in social issues,
poverty, environment and territorial matters. She was involved in Human Rights
matters, working in a National Commission of the Truth and Reconciliation and
other organizations. In 1999, Saball became Vice Minister of Ministry of
National Assets, where she managed public property for regional development,
social projects and other issues in accordance with Government Policy. She then
became Executive Director of the National Commission of the Environment, in
charge of the OECD - Environmental Performance Review among other
responsibilities, especially environment assessment of investment projects,
urban planning and decontamination plans. In the first period of the Michelle
Bachelet Government (2006-2010), she was Vice Minister of Housing and
Urbanism where carried out the new Policy of Housing and Social Integration. It
was the beginning of the public debate about the relationship between housing
policy and socio spatial segregation. Before moving to the Ministry, Saball
worked in the National Foundation of Poverty, where she was in charge of the
National Program young professionals and their service in poor communities in
the country, social projects and better living conditions. In March 2014 she was
appointed Minister of Housing and Urbanism by President Michelle Bachelet.
COLOMBIA | Colombia
Mr. Fernando Guzmán Rodríguez
Executive Director
Mr. Guzmán Rodríguez is Executive director of the Colombian Association of
Capital Cities (Asociación Colombiana de Ciudades Capitales, Asocapitales) City
of residence: Bogotá (Colombia). He holds a law degree from the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia and a master’s in political studies. Has studied courses in
territorial planning and development. Served as private secretary to ex-Mayor
Antanas Mockus and secretary of government of the city of Bogotá. He has
directed and coordinated interdisciplinary teams in the creation and execution
of policies and programs with high social impacts such as local planning in
Bogotá, and restructuring disaster areas in the coffee-growing region of
Colombia. He is also an advisor and university professor on topics of urban
public management, security, social harmony (coexistence) , and citizen culture.
Colombian Association
of Capital Cities
COSTA RICA | Costa Rica
Mr. Rosendo Pujol Mesalles
Minister for Housing
and Human Settlements
Mr Pujlol Mesalles is Costa Rica's Minister for Housing and Human Settlements.
He first studied Civil Engineering at the University of Costa Rica. He then went
on to specialise in Urban and Regional Planning at Berkeley University of
California, first to do a Master Degree in Urban and Regional Planning, with an
emphasis on urban policies: infrastructure construction, urban regulations and
taxes in 1988, and then to complete a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning with
an emphasis on transport and physical planning. His speciliality is urban,
regional and environmental planning, sustainable development, transport and
interactions of land use, infrastructure systems, strengthening local institutions,
sustainable tourism.
María Eugenia Rivera Araya
Municipal Council President
San José Municipality
Miss Rivera Araya started her political career with the P.A.S.E (Partido
Accesibilidad Sin Exclusión) party, which was founded by popular referendum in
benefit of people with disabilities and senior citizens from the capital. The
object of the party is to fight for effective equality in opportunities and to foster
the eradication of all kinds of human discrimination, as well as to bring an
effort to provide physical, social and cultural accessibility in every sphere of our
current society. Miss Rivera Araya's active community participation and
proactive, selfless assistance along with her concern for the issues affecting San
José's residents have made her transcend in the party first as Communal
Leader, then as Coucilor (Regidora) and currently as San Jose's Municipal
Council President where -with a conciliatory manner in her own words- she has
managed to coordinate the work of Councilors from five different parties to
carry out the projects studied by the commissions of the Council, regarding a
plethora of subjects of interest for the City.
ECUADOR | Ecuador
Mr. David Jácome Polit
Director of Metropolitan Urban
Development
Quito
Mr. Jácome Polit is an architect from the Catholic University of Ecuador. For 10
years he devoted his career to the development of real estate, responsible for
project management of several housing projects on a large scale in cities across
the country. Later he obtained a Master's Degree in Architecture (Cum Laude)
with specialization in Construction Engineering and Technology in Sustainable
Development at the Technical University of Delft (Netherlands). At the same
time, he was the student leader of the team from the same university who
participated in the Solar Decathlon 2014, European edition, winning the first
prize in sustainability, first prize in communication and social awareness,
second prize in energy efficiency and second prize in administration and
construction safety. Currently he is working in the public sector as Metropolitan
Director of Urban Development, supporting sustainable urban development in
the city of Quito by working in several innovative projects to strength public
spaces and provide solid economic ground with or without public funds.
Additionally, he is a university professor at under graduate and graduate level,
and focuses his research on circular metabolisms at different scales, by
developing strategies that are friendly to the environment and low-tech
solutions for easy implementation.
JAPAN | Japón
Akira Oshida
Advisor to the Minister
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism
Mr. Akira Oshida was born in 1952. After graduating from Tokyo University,
Mr. Oshida started his professional career in the Ministry of Construction
(Currently, re-established as “Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and
Tourism(MLIT)”). In 2008, under the Prime Minister Aso Cabinet, he was
appointed as Director General for Water and Land Use Bureau in the MLIT,
responsible for Japan’s land-use policy. He was assigned for an important policy
agenda on urban development in City Bureau and Railway Bureau, where his
accomplishment of a national urban policy framework on new town
development and compact city policies were highly evaluated. Mr. Oshida is
also well known for his analysis on economic trend, urban infrastructure and
PPP in the Economic White Paper and Construction White Paper of Japanese
Government. Currently, under the Prime Minister Abe Cabinet, Mr. Oshida
serves as the Advisor to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and
Tourism. As the Vice Chair of the Regional Policy Development Committee of
the OECD and Auditor of the East Japan Construction Surety Company, Ltd, he is
engaged in development of the policy frameworks for resilient cities and
regions.
Mr. Kizou Hisamoto
Mayor of Kobe City
Mr. Toshihiko Ota
Mayor of Toyota City
Mr. Kizou Hisamoto was born in Kobe in 1954. After graduating from Tokyo
University, Law Department in 1976, he joined the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
He accomplished many important tasks in the Ministry of Internal Affairs
covering a wide policy agenda related to local government autonomy, regional
revitalisation, disaster management and fire prevention. He also worked in
local governments, as the Director of Planning in Aomori Prefecture, Director of
Finance in Kyoto Prefecture and Director General for Finance in Sapporo City.
Mr Hisamoto was appointed as Councillor of the Cabinet Secretariat in 1995.
Since 1997, he worked in various areas, such as policy coordination for regional
revitalization, improvement of finance in local governments and planning of the
policy framework of the local autonomy system. He was appointed as Deputy
Director-General of Minister's Secretariat in 2005, Executive Director of Election
Department in 2006 and Director-General of the Local Administration Bureau in
2008. In 2012, he was appointed as Vice-Mayor of Kobe City. After resigning
from Vice-Mayor in June 2013, he was elected as Mayor of Kobe. He took his
current office as the 16th Mayor of Kobe in November 2013.
Mr. Toshihiko OTA is the Mayor of Toyota City, where he was born and raised.
After graduating from Waseda University in 1977, he has been with the City of
Toyota since then as an administrator. His inauguration as Mayor was in
February, 2013. Recently, he worked with the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations to organize the High-level Symposium on
Sustainable Cities: Connecting People, Environment and Technology, co-convened
by the United Nations and Toyota City. The symposium was held in Toyota City in
January 2015 to improve the decision–making process in urban planning and
management and to move the advancement of sustainable cities and
urbanization. Mayor Ota had been working as the Chairman of the Toyota City
Low Carbon Society Verification Promotion Council established in August 2010.
Being selected by the government of Japan as an Model Environment City in
2009, Toyota City has been working with the fifty organizations making up the
Council, such as the leading companies and organizations in the automobile
industry, energy, housing, transportation, distribution, and other related fields, to
conduct verification programs to implement a new, low-carbon social system that
benefits the residents. The Council has developed into a new organization in April
2015 and it continues to play a vital role in promoting sustainability and a lowcarbon society.
KOREA | Corea
Ms. Kim Jinsook
Director General
for Architecture Policy
Ministry of Land Infrastructure
and Transport
Kim, Jinsook was appointed as Director General for Architecture Policy in the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in February 2014. She is an
architectural and technology standards expert who has worked in various fields
within the Ministry and has greatly contributed to urban and regional planning
and development. Especially, she has played a critical role in setting up
standards to improve construction safety, project quality and architectural
design as well as promoting architectural service industry, certification systems
(building energy efficiency and assessment, energy saving design and building
safety) and green building.Director General Kim passed the 23rd National
Higher Civil Service Examination. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in
Architecture from Inha University, Korea, in 1983 and a Master’s Degree in
Urban and Regional Planning from University of Wisconsin-Madison in the U.S.
in 1994.
MEXICO | México
Vicente Mendoza Téllez Girón
Chief Financial Officer
Vicente Mendoza is a young individual with extensive experience in the public and
private sectors. He completed a B.A. in Administration and a Master of Public
Policy at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), a M.A. in Economics
at the University of London, and a Master of Public Administration at Harvard
University. He is currently the CFO at Infonavit. Since 2013, Mr. Mendoza has led
the implementation of a transformative agenda to provide better housing
solutions and higher returns to workers’ savings. During 2015, he will continue
pushing forward innovative housing financial solutions to strengthen the rental
and secondary markets, preserving the financial strength of the Institute with a
long-term vision. Mr. Mendoza also served as Chief of Staff for the Minister of
Labor and Social Welfare, Advisor to the President in the Social Development
Cabinet, General Director at the Ministry of Agrarian Reform. Prior to his public
service he worked as consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Infonavit
MOROCCO | Marruecos
Mohammed Nabil Benabdallah is a graduate of the National Institute of
Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO- Paris ), option : international
relations. He has been Secretary General of the Party of Progress and Socialism
of Morocco since 2010. He was Ambassador in Rome, from November 2008 to
July 2009. Minister of Communication of Morocco and Spokesman of the
Government, from November 2002 to October 2007. He was elected member of
the Council of the city of Rabat and the borough Council Agdal - Riad ,
September 2003 - June 2009 .
Mr. Mohammed Nabil Benabdallah
Minister of Housing and Urban Policy
THE NETHERLANDS | Los Países Bajos
Mr. Sjaak van der Tak
Mayor of Westland
Metropolitan Region
of Rotterdam - The Hague
J. (Sjaak) van der Tak (1956) is Mayor of municipality of Westland since 2004
and member of the executive board of the Metropole region Rotterdam-The
Hague from the start of this collaboration (2014). Between 1984 and 1995 he
held various employments in different municipalities. He was alderman
(member of the municipal executive board) on behalf of the Christian
Democratic political party (CDA) in the municipality of Rotterdam from 1996 to
2004, where he was responsible for transport, finances, social affairs,
intergration and education. As chairman of the Greenport Holland
Governments (GHO) Sjaak van der Tak is commited to strengthen the national
and international position of the Dutch horticulture. He is a member of the
executive committee of the Police Unit in The Hague, the board of the
Association for Refugees Netherlands (VluchtelingenWerk Nederland) and the
Human Trafficking Task Force.
PERU | Perú
Mr. Carlos Moscoso Perea
Mayor of Cusco
Carlos Moscoso Perea is a Cusquenian politician, who at the early age of 16
was already active supporting and organizing the political protests against the
military dictatorship that ruled Peru during the late 70’s. Due to the above, his
formal studies are fundamentally political: He is an Attorney at Law & Political
Sciences and also has a Master in Constitutional Law and a Doctorate in
Political Law by the Universidad Conplutense in Madrid, Spain. During the 90’s
he was the youngest elected Congressman by the Democratic Front leaded by
the famous novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. During his active academic life he has
been a political speaker and a professor in several universities, including the
Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Universidad Femenina de Lima,
Universidad de Cordoba, Spain (as a visiting professor). As a Mayor of the city
of Cusco, Peru he has initiated an ambitious partnership with the Ministry of
Housing to work for an integral sanitation project for the city, including the
treatment of sewage and rain water. This project also includes a consultancy
for the embellishment and the provision of infrastructure and services along the
river side. Carlos, when not involved in running the bustling city of Cusco, enjoys
sports like cycling, soccer and racquet ball. He has three children and when not
sharing time with them what he enjoys the most is reading. Sometime in the
future he would like to dedicate to writing. He believes that dreams are the
starting point for action. His favorite motto is “Our present dreams are the
future’s reality”.
SPAIN | España
He is Dr. Architect at Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and researcher at
this university. He has been Associate Professor (Profesor Colaborador) at
European University of Madrid (UEM) and he has played teaching works at ETS
Architecture of Madrid as Assistant Lecturer on ‘Architectural Design’. He has
conducted research works for the Research Team in Collective Housing (GIVCO)
and he is member of the Research Team in Architectural Review (ARKRIT), both
belonging to UPM. Has also been ‘Academic Guest’ in the ‘Institute of
Technology in Architecture’ at the Faculty of Architecture of ETH Zurich
University. In addition, he has been Lecturer in several national and
international masters, conferences and symposia. His research has focused on
public housing policies and planning of cities. Currently, he holds the post of
Councilor for Sustainable Urban Development at the City Council of Madrid.
***
José Manuel Calvo del Olmo
Councillor of Town Planning
Madrid
Doctor Arquitecto por la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) e
Investigador de esta universidad. Ha sido Profesor Colaborador en la
Universidad Europea (UEM) y ha desempeñado labores de apoyo a la docencia
en la ETS Arquitectura de Madrid en la asignatura de ‘Proyectos
Arquitectónicos’. Ha realizado trabajos de investigación para el Grupo de
Investigación en Vivienda Colectiva y es miembro del Grupo de Investigación
de Crítica Arquitectónica (ARKRIT), ambos de la UPM. También ha sido
Investigador Invitado (Academic Guest) en el ‘Institute of Technology in
Architecture’ de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la universidad ETH Zurich y ha
sido conferenciante en diversos másteres, congresos y simposios nacionales e
internacionales. Sus trabajos de investigación se han centrado en las políticas
públicas de vivienda y en la planificación de las ciudades. En la actualidad,
ocupa el cargo de Concejal de Desarrollo Urbano Sostenible del Ayuntamiento
de Madrid
TURKEY | Turquía
Mr Hüseyin Eren
Deputy Secretary-General
Hüseyin Eren was born in Samsun, 1953. He graduated from teaching school in
Ladik, and from the School of Business Administration in Erzurum. He took his
master’s degree in Statistics Department of 19 Mayıs University. He worked as
a teacher, administrator, financial advisor and chief accountant in various
corporations in Turkey. He also established and administrated many funds.
Hüseyin Eren started to work as Istanbul Metropolitan MunicipalityDepartment of Revenues Director in 1994. Eren was assigned to the
Department of Registry in April 2002, and then worked as the Director at
Department of Purchasing. Eren was later appointed to be the Deputy
Secretary General (Finance) on November 10, 2005.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
UNITED KINGDOM | Reino Unido
Mr . Matthew Yates
Head of Transport
and Planning Projects
Transport for London
Matthew is the Head of Transport Planning and Projects at Transport for
London with over 20 years' experience in developing and implementing
strategies, policies and projects in highly complex and political environments.
He is currently leading the investigation and development of a range of major
projects, including light rail and metro extensions, new road and public
transport crossings over the River Thames, airport capacity in London, new
interchange multi-modal stations, and a portfolio of schemes improving streets
and places. Achievements include obtaining powers to build the Northern Line
metro extension, the Emirates Airline – the UK’s first urban cable car, the
Garden Bridge, several station improvement projects and formulated the
business case for Crossrail 2, a new proposed multi-billion pound regional
railway in London. His work informs the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and
London’s Spatial Development Strategy – the London Plan.Matthew has
worked in a variety of roles for both public and private sector organisations
predominantly focussing on transportation and spatial development.
UNITED STATES | Estados Unidos
Ms. Lisa D. Cooper
Director of the Mayor’s Office
of Economic Development
Birmingham, Alabama
Lisa D. Cooper is known for her business acumen, sense of humor and
dedication to business development which makes her well suited for her role as
Director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (ED) for the City of
Birmingham. Cooper currently leads the team that comprises Economic
Development and together, they are responsible for all efforts that facilitate
growth and diversification of Birmingham’s economic platform through
business recruitment, retention and expansion. In a professional career that has
spanned over 34 years, Cooper previously served as a banking executive in the
financial services industry working with commercial giants including Central
Bank of the South (now known as BBVA Compass Bank) and National Bank of
Commerce. In 1997, Cooper joined the Birmingham Business Resource Center
(BBRC) as their Deputy Director. A graduate of the University of Alabama at
Birmingham, Cooper earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing and has
a broad background in the financial services industry as a banking executive,
community development and small business development officer. She is a past
honoree of the Birmingham Business Journal Top Birmingham Women and a
graduate of the 2008 Class of Leadership Birmingham. Lisa believes that first
and foremost she is a servant of God and has been married to Attorney
Lawrence Cooper for the past 15 years.
Mr. Sam Chase
Metro Councilor
Portland, Oregon
Mr. Kwanza Hall
Council member
Atlanta City Council
Mr. Gustavo F. Velasquez
Assistant Secretary
for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity
US Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
Sam Chase is an elected Metro Councilor representing roughly 250,000 Oregon
residents of District 5, which includes Northwest and North Portland, portions
of Southwest and Northeast Portland, plus the city of Maywood Park and part
of Washington County. Metro is the only directly elected regional government
in the United States, which helps manage the growth of Portland and the
region’s other 24 cities and 3 counties through land use and transportation
planning, the provision of parks and natural areas, and the operations and
oversight of solid waste and recycling. Councilor Chase also serves as executive
director of the Coalition of Community Health Clinics. In the past 18 years, his
public sector and non-profit experience included serving as Chief of Staff to the
Portland City Commissioner, Executive Director at the Oregon Opportunity
Network and Clackamas Community Land Trust, housing policy advisor to the
Portland City Commissioner, and campaign manager and field director for local
and state campaigns. He has served on the boards of directors of the Portland
Community Land Trust, X-PAC, Northwest District Association, Housing
Development Center, Coalition for a Livable Future and the Oregon League of
Conservation Voters, Multnomah County Chapter..
The Honorable Kwanza Hall is in his third term on the Atlanta City Council. He
represents the heart of Atlanta, including the Martin Luther King National
Historic Site and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. His father
was one of Dr. King’s youngest staff members. Hall has been recognized for
leadership in many arenas, including economic inclusion, workforce
development, urban design, and arts and culture. In 2013, the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation recognized his initiative to expand opportunities to families in an
Atlanta neighborhood with the highest concentration of poverty in the
southeastern United States. Prior to his election to the Atlanta City Council, Hall
served on the Atlanta Board of Education. Hall is the immediate past chair of
the Atlanta City Council’s International Relations Committee. He has been a
fellow of the German Marshall Fund and a number of U.S. State Department
programs. He currently serves on the World Affairs Council, Leadership Atlanta,
and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Hall and his wife are the
proud parents of two sons.
Gustavo Velasquez was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the
United States Senate to become Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior
to his nomination, Velasquez was Executive Director of the Latino Economic
Development Center (LEDC), a non-for-profit organization based in
Washington, DC. Prior to his tenure at LEDC, he served for seven years as
Director of the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, where he led the
enforcement provisions of the DC Human Right Act. He also served between
2003 and 2007 as DC's Director of the Office of Latino Affairs. Before his
mayoral appointments in the District of Columbia government, Velasquez was
Director of Operations and Director of the Division of Families and
Neighborhood Development at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, the leading social
service provider to Latinos in Philadelphia. He has served in numerous boards
and advisory groups at local and national levels, with an emphasis on civil
rights and educational organizations, as well as issues for the advancement of
Latinos in the United States. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where
he graduated with a master's degree in government administration. He lives in
the District of Columbia with his wife, Emily, and his two children.
CO-HOSTS AND PARTNERS
The OECD would like to warmly thank the following partners for their support of the Sixth OECD
Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers:
Co-hosts
Partners
For further information please contact:
[email protected]
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate