Penn IUR Celebrates Resilience with 2024 Urban Leadership Prize

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) honored three pathbreaking urban leaders from around the globe at the 19th Annual Urban Leadership Forum on April 5.

Recipients of the 2024 Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize, which recognized leaders who are guiding cities worldwide toward a resilient, sustainable, and equitable future, included:

• Jaime Alberto Pumarejo Heins, former Mayor, City of Barranquilla, Colombia;
• Andrew Melnik, former International Projects Manager, City of Bucha, Region of Kyiv, Ukraine; and
• Lauren Sorkin, Executive Director, Resilient Cities Network.

In speaking about the award’s namesake, Penn IUR Co-Director Eugénie Birch said, “Larry was a wonderful guide to our advisory board and now Melanie Nussdorf, his wife, is part of our family as well. Larry was passionate about cities–particularly about their enduring value to society.” She continued, “The forward thinking of the exemplary leaders we honor today paves the way for the future of our cities."

The ceremony recognizing the urban leaders for their resilience was followed by awardees’ remarks and a discussion moderated by Birch and Penn IUR Co-Director Susan Wachter.

Pumarejo, who served as Barranquilla’s mayor from 2020 until 2023, spoke of leading the main economic center of the Caribbean region of Colombia as a model for sustainable and inclusive urban development.

“The great miracle of the city is everybody finding common goals and understanding that even though there are things that drive us apart, if you find those common goals and you talk about those—and less about the things that divide us—people start coming together,” he emphasized.

“We don’t talk about CO2 emissions…we talk about how to make better the quality of air, bettering your health and your children's.”

Accomplishments among Pumarejo’s tenure included reclaiming a degraded and forgotten mangrove forest, re-greening the city, implementing solar and wind powered infrastructure, and fostering international collaborations for ambitious green infrastructure projects.

Sorkin, meanwhile, leverages the expertise of a team of urban resilience professionals in London, Mexico City, New York, and Singapore as Executive Director of the Resilient Cities Network.

“My only real superpower is finding the right people who are willing to come together to do the right thing in response to complex challenges,” she said.

Sorkin spoke of the Network’s legacy, stemming from former Penn president Judith Rodin’s “bold and broad vision” for the Rockefeller Foundation following Superstorm Sandy. Rockefeller’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative created a resilience framework for urban communities to help cities to think about their risks and opportunities in a holistic way.

“In building urban resilience as a network, we’ve learned that change moves at the speed of trust. Trust has been our anchor during challenging times,” she confirmed. “Our response, rooted in collaboration and compassion, underscores the power of networks to save lives and secure a better future.”

Melnick, a former international projects manager, described stopping his work during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and going back to the City of Bucha, a municipality in the Kyiv region, to help bring international attention to the needs of rebuilding.

For the last two years, he has dedicated his efforts to Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, urban development, and energy efficiency projects, attracting funding for Ukrainian municipalities by cooperating with the world's leading consulting and architectural companies, NGOs, and funds. 

“We need to bring people back to the schools,” he said, describing the need for not only business and economic development but sustainable development. “The best thing we can bring from our friends and partners all over the world is knowledge. Because if you get some money and don’t know how to use it in the proper way, you lose it.”

Wachter commended the leaders, noting their need for courage in each of their contexts. “We need to congratulate you for taking on very difficult circumstances and showing leadership,” she recognized.

For more information about Penn IUR’s annual Urban Leadership Forum, please visit the Penn IUR website.

About the Penn IUR Urban Leadership Prize

Since 2005, Penn IUR has recognized leaders in urban affairs through this annual award which became the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize in 2021. Past recipients include (titles and affiliations current at time of award):  

• Steve Adler, 52nd Mayor of Austin, TX (2023)
• Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo, Mayor, Municipality of Quelimane, Mozambique (2023)
• Eleni “Lenio” Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer, UN Habitat & Arsht-Rock, and Chief Heat Officer, Athens, Greece (2023)
• Sheela Patel, Founding Director, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) (2023)
• Claudio Orrego, Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile (2022)
• Emilia Saiz Carrancedo, Secretary General of UCLG (2022)
• Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone (2021)
• Marvin Rees, Mayor of 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)
• John Timoney, former Miami Chief of Police and author, Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities (2011)
• William Hudnut III, 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)
• Brent Warr, 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)