Our leadership

Named one of the U.S’s “cool mayors” by the Mayors for Climate Protection, Mayor Cownie believes in looking to the future and has a long history of civic leadership and community involvement. In his second term as Mayor, he continued to promote the Des Moines’ sustainability goals. Some of his recent achievements include establishing the Des Moines Energy and Environmental Task Force, and securing a grant for purchasing a fleet of resource-efficient hybrid automobiles.

Meet Mayor Cownie

Elected in 2013, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh serves as the first female Mayor of Malmö. In this capacity, she has been on the board of SKL (Swedish Municipalities and Counties), which gave her invaluable insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by cities around Sweden. In her role as Mayor, Jammeh manages finance, public procurement, business and commerce and steers the city's corporations and agencies.

Meet Mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh

Meet MLA Atishi Marlena

Meet Mayor Minna Arve

Meet Mayor Mohamed Sefiani

Currently serving as the Mayor of Suwon City, Republic of Korea, Mayor Yeom’s involvement in sustainable development dates back to the 1990s when he founded the Suwon Center for Environment Movement. With the slogan “Human City, Suwon”, Yeom is committed to promoting civil participation in urban planning. He also founded the Local Sustainability Alliance of Korea.

Meet Mayor Yeom Tae-Young

Mauricio Vila holds a Bachelor in Law as well as M.A. in Political Management and Governance and a MBA. He became a local Member of Parliament for the fourth district of Yucatan in 2012 and remained in office until 2015. He then served as Mayor of Mérida from 2015 to 2018, a time during which the city received recognition for its management, quality of life and transparency.

Meet Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal

Named one of the U.S’s “cool mayors” by the Mayors for Climate Protection, Mayor Cownie believes in looking to the future and has a long history of civic leadership and community involvement. In his second term as Mayor, he continued to promote the Des Moines’ sustainability goals. Some of his recent achievements include establishing the Des Moines Energy and Environmental Task Force, and securing a grant for purchasing a fleet of resource-efficient hybrid automobiles.

Meet Councillor Amanda Stone

After several administration positions in city, state and federal levels, Mr.De Mello Filho was chosen Secretary of State of Economic Development in Pernambuco in 2020. He stabilized the city's finances, took actions ffor participatory democracy, and launched a public safety program. He also launched a large scale urban lanning project and a free transportation system for primary school students.

Meet Secretary of State Geraldo Julio

Kinlay Dorjee is the first elected Mayor of Thimphu, Bhutan. Since entering office he has embarked on a number of sustainability projects, including an overhaul of household waste recycling systems. Prior to this, Mayor Dorjee was the General Manager of the Bhutan Power Corporation. In February 2013, he endorsed a Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy to improve urban sanitation and hygiene for Thimphu City.

Meet Mayor Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay

Meet Lord Mayor Katja Dörner

Meet Mayor Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay

Currently the Mayor of Quelimane, Mozambique, Manuel de Araújo was first elected in 2011. He previously worked at Amnesty International. He was also a member, board member and Vice-President of several global organizations, such as Parliamentarians for Global Action and Parliamentarians for Small Arms. He holds a PhD in International Development, an MSc in Development Studies, a MPS in Policy Studies and a BA Hons in International Relations.

Elected in 2013, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh serves as the first female Mayor of Malmö. In this capacity, she has been on the board of SKL (Swedish Municipalities and Counties), which gave her invaluable insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by cities around Sweden. In her role as Mayor, Jammeh manages finance, public procurement, business and commerce and steers the city's corporations and agencies.

Alex Zhang is the Executive Director of Eco Forum Global (EFG), ICLEI’s primary partner organization in China. As China’s principal exchange platform on sustainable development and eco-civilization, EFG enjoys a myriad of resources in line with ICLEI’s strategy in China such as promoting resilient and sustainable city concept and practices, and exploring ways of engaging Chinese cities.

Meet Executive Director Alex Zhang

Mauricio Vila holds a Bachelor in Law as well as M.A. in Political Management and Governance and a MBA. He became a local Member of Parliament for the fourth district of Yucatan in 2012 and remained in office until 2015. He then served as Mayor of Mérida from 2015 to 2018, a time during which the city received recognition for its management, quality of life and transparency.

Meet Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal

Meet Dr. Cathy Oke

Currently the Mayor of Quelimane, Mozambique, Manuel de Araújo was first elected in 2011. He previously worked at Amnesty International. He was also a member, board member and Vice-President of several global organizations, such as Parliamentarians for Global Action and Parliamentarians for Small Arms. He holds a PhD in International Development, an MSc in Development Studies, a MPS in Policy Studies and a BA Hons in International Relations.

An accountant by training, Vincent de Paul Kayanja was elected Mayor of Entebbe in 2011. He occupied several different positions in the municipality prior to being elected Mayor, and has been active in community leadership for almost thirty years. Under his leadership, Entebbe was named best performing town in Uganda in for cleanliness and sanitation in 2013. His term was also marked by an overhaul of the city’s public infrastructure.

Meet Mayor Vincent De Paul Kayanja

Meet Mayor Mohamed Sefiani

Meet Deputy Mayor Cheng-Ta Hsieh

Mayor Kadokawa has been involved in ICLEI’s governance since 2008, the same year he was elected Mayor of Kyoto. Under his leadership, the city’s heritage as birthplace of the Kyoto Protocol keeps being honored. Among other achievements, the Kyoto City Green Industry Promotion Vision was enacted in 2014, emphasizing the importance of green industries as a growth factor for the city, and setting the direction for Kyoto to implement initiatives to build its own model for a smart city.

Meet Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa

Currently serving as the Mayor of Suwon City, Republic of Korea, Mayor Yeom’s involvement in sustainable development dates back to the 1990s when he founded the Suwon Center for Environment Movement. With the slogan “Human City, Suwon”, Yeom is committed to promoting civil participation in urban planning. He also founded the Local Sustainability Alliance of Korea.

Meet Mayor Yeom Tae Young

Martin Horn holds a Bachelor's degree in International social work from The Ludwigsburg Protestant University of Applied Science (Evangelischen Hochschule Ludwigsburg) and a Masters’ degree in European and World Politics from the University of Bremen. Before being elected Lord Mayor of Freiburg in 2018, Horn worked as European and Development Coordinator for the City of Sindelfingen, Germany and as a freelance lecturer at the Ludwigsburg Protestant University of Applied Science.

Meet Lord Mayor Martin Horn

Meet Deputy Mayor Ana Oregi

Meet Deputy Mayor Mariusz Skiba

Following almost 30 years of entrepreneurship, Juan Nasry Asfura Zablah took his first political position in 2006, when he became City Councilor in Tegucigalpa. He went on to become Minister Director of the Honduran Fund for Social Investment, before becoming member of the Honduran Parliament in 2011. He then successfully ran to become Mayor of the Central District in 2013, and was reelected in 2017.

Mauricio Vila holds a Bachelor in Law as well as M.A. in Political Management and Governance and a MBA. He became a local Member of Parliament for the fourth district of Yucatan in 2012 and remained in office until 2015. He then served as Mayor of Mérida from 2015 to 2018, a time during which the city received recognition for its management, quality of life and transparency.

Meet Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal

Leading a municipality located in a province blessed with numerous natural beauties, Verny Valerio Hernández is committed to the preservations of these treasures. A lawyer by training, some of his legal work related to environmental law. He served as city alderman from 2010 to 2016, until he was elected Mayor of San Rafael de Heredia. He is also involved in and serving on the board of various development associations.

Matthew Appelbaum served on the city council of Boulder, Colorado, for 18 years, from 1987 to 1995 and 2007 to 2017, including five years as the Mayor and four as Deputy Mayor. He served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities (NLC) and was a long-time member of NLC’s Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee (EENR), for which he served as chair or vice-chair for several years.

Meet Former Mayor Matthew Appelbaum

Named one of the U.S’s “cool mayors” by the Mayors for Climate Protection, Mayor Cownie believes in looking to the future and has a long history of civic leadership and community involvement. In his second term as Mayor, he continued to promote the Des Moines’ sustainability goals. Some of his recent achievements include establishing the Des Moines Energy and Environmental Task Force, and securing a grant for purchasing a fleet of resource-efficient hybrid automobiles.

Meet Manager of Sustainability Ian McVey

Meet Commissioner Brigid Shea

Aaron Hawkins has served on the Dunedin City Council since 2013, and chairs its Community and Culture committee, Refugee Steering Group and Creative Dunedin Partnership. He believes strongly in the critical role of local governments in tackling environmental challenges, and in working collaboratively with other councils, governments and NGOs to do so. He’s also committed to supporting the creative industries to play their critical role in communicating challenges and solutions, and in the transition to a low carbon economy.

Meet Councillor Amanda Stone

Meet Mayor Ann Ferguson

Meet Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes

Meet Mayor João Campos

Meet Mayor Raúl Emilio Jatón

After several administration positions in city, state and federal levels, Mr.De Mello Filho was chosen Secretary of State of Economic Development in Pernambuco in 2020. He stabilized the city's finances, took actions ffor participatory democracy, and launched a public safety program. He also launched a large scale urban lanning project and a free transportation system for primary school students.

Meet Secretary of State Geraldo Julio

Meet Director Juan David Palacio Cardona

Meet Mayor Ary José Vanazzi

Meet MLA Atishi Marlena

Meet CEO Fathimath Afshan Latheef

As Vice-president of the Municipal Association of Nepal (since 2001) and Mayor of Dhulikhel (since 2017), Ashok Byanju is committed to promoting better urban planning and biodiversity throughout Nepal. He is convinced that preserving biodiversity will have a positive impact on sustainability in South Asia, since it will encourage the conservation of natural resources like soil and water. Photo credit: setopati.net

Kinlay Dorjee is the first elected Mayor of Thimphu, Bhutan. Since entering office he has embarked on a number of sustainability projects, including an overhaul of household waste recycling systems. Prior to this, Mayor Dorjee was the General Manager of the Bhutan Power Corporation. In February 2013, he endorsed a Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy to improve urban sanitation and hygiene for Thimphu City.

Meet Mayor Syarif Fasha ME

Meet Mayor Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay

Meet Municipal President Shadan Othman