Event Recap
Penn IUR presented the 2022 Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize on April 20 to two leaders who are showing the way forward in how local and regional governments can transform the lives of citizens in emerging economies. Emilia Saiz Carrancedo, Secretary General, United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), and Claudio Orrego, Governor, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile received the awards at Penn IUR's 17th Annual Urban Leadership Forum.
The annual prize, formerly known as the Penn IUR Urban Leadership Award, recognizes exemplary leaders who have demonstrated the vision to revitalize urban centers, respond to urban crises, and champion urban sustainability in the United States and around the globe. “Both have had long and impactful careers in advancing sustainable urban development,” said Penn IUR Co-Director Eugénie Birch, speaking about this year’s winners. “Emilia Saiz Carrancedo has been a tireless advocate in global discussions for some 250,000 subnational leaders’ interests while Claudio Orrego has promoted urban causes at the national-ministerial and city-metropolitan levels as an innovative and imaginative multi-term mayor.”
Emilia Saiz Carrancedo is the current Secretary General of UCLG since her appointment in Hangzhou in December 2017. She has worked with the international movement of local and regional governments in different capacities since 1998, leading programs and initiatives on institutional capacity-building, the participation of women in local decision-making, and decentralized cooperation.
Claudio Orrego is the first elected Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile. Previously, he served as Mayor of Peñalolén for two terms and later as Intendant of the Metropolitan Region from 2014-2018. Orrego received a law degree from the Catholic University of Chile and holds a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government.
Past Recipients of the Urban Leadership Award
Since 2005, Penn IUR has recognized innovators in urban affairs through its Urban Leadership Award. Past recipients include (with titles and affiliations at time of award):
- Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor, Freetown, Sierra Leone (2021)
- Marvin Rees, Mayor, Bristol, England (2021)
- Inga Saffron, Journalist and Architecture Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer (2020)
- Egbert Perry, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Integral, LLC (2019)
- Mauricio Rodas, Mayor, Quito, Ecuador (2019)
- Elizabeth Julian, Founder and Senior Counsel, Inclusive Communities Project; former Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2018)
- Rose Molokoane, Coordinator, South African Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP); Deputy President and Management Committee; Member, Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI); Co-Chair, UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign (WUC) (2017)
- Victor Santiago Pineda, President, World ENABLED; Adjunct Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of California-Berkeley (2017)
- Angela Glover Blackwell, President & CEO, PolicyLink (2016)
- Jeremy Nowak, President, J Nowak and Associates (2016)
- Michael A. Nutter, Mayor, City of Philadelphia (2015)
- Renée Lewis Glover, Chair, Board of Directors, Habitat for Humanity International; former President and CEO, Atlanta Housing Authority (2015)
- Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon, Co-Founders, Project HOME (2014)
- Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland (2014)
- Joan Clos, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) (2013)
- Yael Lehmann, Executive Director, The Food Trust (2013), Founder and Principal, Urbane Indonesia (2013)
- Derek R.B. Douglas, Vice President for Civic Engagement, University of Chicago and former Special Assistant to President Barack Obama, White House Domestic Policy Council (2012)
- Paul Levy, President and CEO, Philadelphia’s Center City District (2012)
- Lily Yeh, Global Artist and Founder, Barefoot Artists (2012)
- Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011)
- Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView, and former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011)
- Jane Golden, Executive Director, City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (2011), former Miami Chief of Police and author, Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities (2011), Senior Fellow Emeritus, Urban Land Institute; former Mayor, Indianapolis, Indiana (2010)
- Shirley Franklin, Mayor, City of Atlanta, Georgia (2009)
- Parris Glendening, President, Smart Growth Leadership Institute; former Governor, Maryland (2009)
- Bruce Katz, Vice President and Founding Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution (2009)
- Edward J. Blakely, Executive Director, Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Development Administration, City of New Orleans (2008)
- M. Susan Savage, Secretary of State, Oklahoma (2008)
- Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami; former Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services (2008)
- Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Mayor, City of Charleston, South Carolina (2007)
- James Lee Witt, Chairman and CEO, James Lee Witt Associates, a Part of GlobalOptions Group (2006), Mayor, City of Gulfport, Mississippi (2006)
- Loree D. Jones, Secretary of External Affairs, Office of the Mayor, Philadelphia (2006)
- Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor, City of Miami (2005)
- Stephen Goldsmith, Former Mayor, City of Indianapolis (2005)
- Marc H. Morial, Former Mayor, City of New Orleans (2005)
- John F. Street, Mayor, City of Philadelphia (2005)
