Penn IUR Announces the 2022 Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize Winners

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA— The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize, which recognizes leaders who are guiding cities toward a sustainable and vibrant future. The 2022 awardees are Emilia Saiz Carrancedo, Secretary General, United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), and Claudio Orrego, Governor, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile.

Penn IUR will honor the work of these exceptional leaders on April 20th at 3:00-4:00 pm EDT at its 17th annual Urban Leadership Forum. To attend the Urban Leadership Forum, which will be held online, please register at the Penn IUR website.

About the Awardees

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.

About the Penn IUR Urban Leadership Award

Since 2005, Penn IUR has recognized innovators in urban affairs through its Lawrence C. Nussdorf Urban Leadership Prize (formerly known as the Urban Leadership Award). Past recipients include (titles and affiliations current as of year of award):  

• 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), 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)
• 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)

About Penn IUR

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) is dedicated to advancing cross-disciplinary urban-focused research, instruction, and civic engagement on issues relevant to cities around the world. As the global population becomes increasingly urban, understanding cities is vital to informed decision-making and public policy at the local, national, and international levels. Penn IUR focuses on research that informs the sustainable and inclusive 21st century city. By providing a forum for collaborative scholarship and instruction at Penn and beyond, Penn IUR stimulates research and engages with urban practitioners and policymakers to inform urban policy.