People

Our network of contributors

Maria Neira

Mar 19, 2018

Dr Maria P. Neira has been directing the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland since September 2005. Throughout her tenure and up until now she has led and advised on policy and management in key areas of environmental health. Prior to that she served as Under-Secretary of…

Mette Aamodt

Mar 19, 2018

Mette Aamodt is the Co-Founder of Aamodt / Plumb Architects and the Slow Space Movement together with her husband Andrew Plumb. She is an Architect, Writer, Design Activist and Mom living with multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Ali al-Azzawi

Mar 19, 2018

Drawing on his multidisciplinary experience spanning business, government, technology and applied psychology, Dr. Ali al-Azzawi is responsible for the Happiness Agenda at Smart Dubai Office. His academic and professional interests focus on the theory and impactful applications of smart technologies towards happiness on a city scale.

Anthony Gooch

Mar 19, 2018

Anthony Gooch is Director of Public Affairs & Communications at the OECD. Since joining in 2008, he has played a key role in managing the OECD’s major international public campaigns in response to the ongoing global economic crisis (fight against tax havens, BEPS, Fighting International bribery, PISA). To help OECD recast the concept of well-being,…

Cécile Helle

Mar 07, 2018

Former Member of Parliament, Cécile Helle was Vice-President of the Regional Council in charge of territory development, urban issues and culture. In her various roles, she sought to combine a strategic and operational vision for the sustainable development of territories. Within the French Socialist Party, Mayor Helle was National Secretary for Human Rights and Citizenship.

Vera Baboun

Mar 05, 2018

Vera Baboun is a member of the Palestinian National Council. Baboun was elected as the 1st Woman Mayor of the City of Bethlehem in (November 14, 2012 – May 27, 2017) to be the first woman mayor of the city since its inception in 1857. Within her municipal duties, she was president or vice president…

Annabelle Selldorf

Mar 05, 2018

Annabelle Selldorf is the principal of Selldorf Architects, a 70-person architectural design practice that she founded in New York City 1988. The firm creates public and private spaces that manifest a clear and modern sensibility to enduring impact. Cultural and Institutional clients include the Frick Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and Neue…

Manuela Carmena Castrillo

Mar 05, 2018

Manuela Carmena Castrillo has been Mayor of Madrid since 2015. She is a former lawyer and emeritus judge of the Spanish Supreme Court. She has represented Spain in The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations. She also carried out international legal cooperation work in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, Guatemala and the…

Azra Jafari

Mar 05, 2018

Azra Jafari served as the first female Mayor in Afghanistan from 2008-2014, after being appointed Mayor of Nili by President Hamid Karzai. She is an author, constitutional jurist, magazine editor, teacher, trained midwife, politician and an advocate for women’s and human rights in Afghanistan.

Susana Torre

Mar 05, 2018

Susana Torre is an architect, critic and educator based in New York City and Carboneras, Spain. Her career has combined theoretical concerns with the actual practice of building, and architectural and urban design with teaching and writing from a feminist perspective.

Valérie Plante

Mar 05, 2018

First elected as city councillor in Saint-Marie district in 2013, Projet Montréal members chose Valérie Plante to lead the party in 2016. Her contagious passion and energy has helped her rally people around her progressive vision. Deeply concerned about participatory democracy, Valérie Plante has a bold plan for Montreal centered on increased access to public…

Lianne Dalziel

Mar 02, 2018

Lianne Dalziel was elected as Mayor of Christchurch in October 2013, after serving for 23 years in the New Zealand Parliament, the last four terms as the Member of Parliament for Christchurch East. The Christchurch East electorate was severely affected by the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence and Mayor Dalziel played an important role in ensuring…