Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink

Mayor of Almere / Co-chair of the Committee on Development Cooperation and City Diplomacy of UCLG.

Since 2003, Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (1 June 1950) is mayor of Almere, the youngest and fastest growing city of the Netherlands. Almere is on the list of the 10 largest municipalities in the Netherlands. As mayor, Ms. Jorritsma is amongst others responsible for the coordination of the safety policy, the maintenance of public order, the coordination of the police and fire brigade, the management of crises and international relations.

Ms. Jorritsma started her political career as municipal councilor in the municipality of Bolsward for the liberal party (VVD) from 1978 to 1988. In 1982 she became a member of the Parliament. From 1998 to 2002, Ms. Jorritsma was the first female Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands. She was Minister of Infrastructure and Water (1994-1998) and Minister of Economic Affairs (1998-2002).

Ms. Jorritsma is President of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) since 2008 and Co-President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions. She also co-chairs the Committee on Development Cooperation and City Diplomacy of UCLG.

Hassan Ali Joho

Gouverneur de Mombasa, Kenya

His a Kenyan politician. He was elected to represent the Kisauni Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007. During 2013 election he was a candidate for governor of Mombasa County which he won. He is the first governor of Mombasa County.

Joho is a degree holder in Business Management and Human Resource Management and is presently enrolled for a Masters in Business Administration. Apart from other fellowship programmes, Joho has also vast expertise in Information Technology. Joho is founder of Hassan Joho Foundation. He is married to Madina Hassan and is blessed with 3 children Shaheed, Rahma Ummu Kulthum.

Íñigo Joaquín de la Serna Hernáiz

Maire de Santander, Espagne, Président de la Fédération Espagnole des Municipalités et des Provinces (FEMP) 

Il est ingénieur des ponts et chaussées de formation. Il a été directeur de cabinet du conseiller à l'Environnement du gouvernement régional de Cantabrie entre 1999 et 2003. Il obtient son premier poste politique en juin 2003, lorsqu'il est nommé conseiller à l'Environnement, aux Eaux et aux Plages de la mairie de Santander. L'année suivante, en 2004, il est élu vice-secrétaire général du Parti populaire de Cantabrie (PPC).

Josep Roig

Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments UCLG

Josep Roig is the Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments since September 2011.

He has been a founding member of Metropolis in 1985, prior to becoming the Secretary General of Metropolis in 1999. He held the position of Deputy Secretary as well as Executive Director of Metropolis’99 between 1997 and 1999.

Prior to that, Josep Roig was the secretary of Barcelona Quality Network until 1997, the Quality Coordinator of Barcelona 2000 Strategic Plan, and a consultant for public organization.

In his position in Barcelona Metropolitan Corporation (CMB) (1983-1990, 1996-2000, 2009-2011), he worked for economic promotion, asset management, finances and planning, first as Coordinator of Technological and Industrial State Parks, then as Deputy Director and finally as Financial Director and Deputy Director General, for the above mentioned sectors.

In the academic world, Josep Roig was Director General of the University of Barcelona between 1990 and 1994 and from 1977 to 1985; he was a lecturer in Urban and Regional Planning, Department of Economics, University of Barcelona.

Kadir Topbaş

Mayor of Metropolitan Istanbul / UCLG President

Kadir Topbaş was born in Artvin, Turkey in 1945. He graduated from Marmara University- Faculty of Theology in 1972, and Mimar Sinan University-Department of Architecture in 1974. Topbaş earned his PhD degree from Istanbul University-Department of Art History and Archeology, with a study on "Hidiv Mansion and its place in Bosphorus civilian architecture". Topbas worked as an architect for many years. 

Between 1994 and 1998, Kadir Topbaş worked as an adviser for Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when Erdogan was the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Topbas also served as the deputy director of Istanbul 1st Cultural Heritage Protection and Monuments Committee of the Ministry of Culture. 

Kadir Topbaş was elected as the Mayor of Beyoglu (a district of Istanbul) in 1999. During this period, he launched and successfully implemented an urban regeneration project called the "Güzel Beyoglu" ("Beautiful Beyoglu"). 

In March 2004 he run for Mayor of Istanbul and was elected with a vast majority of votes. He was re-elected in 2009 with a larger majority. 

He served as President of MEWA and Vice-President of UCLG between 2004 and 2007 and as Co-President of UCLG between 2007-2010. He was elected President of UCLG in Mexico in November 2010. He was nominated by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as member of the High Level Panel to advise on the global development framework beyond 2015.

Michael Dixon

General Manager, Smarter Cities, IBM 

As the General Manager for IBM's global smarter cities business, Michael Dixon leads IBM's vision, strategy and operations for teams active in cities around the world which are focused on a core element of IBM's long term strategy. The integration of transport, health, public safety, energy, utilities, social services, education and urban management are at the heart of numerous initiatives. 

Prior to a brief period as the Managing Partner for IBM's consulting and systems integration business (GBS) in Central / Eastern Europe in 2011, Michael was the Vice President of Public Sector for GBS in the growth markets, leading teams focused on supporting client initiatives in Government, Healthcare Payers and Providers and Education across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Central / Eastern Europe and Latin America. Client success in numerous projects resulted from IBM providing strategic advice, business change and process transformation to improve services and deliver cost efficiencies. 

During an IBM career spanning 27 years, Michael has held a series of sales, management and executive positions associated with the public sector across increasingly broad geographies.  His depth of industry experience has seen him range from working with policy makers and senior executives in public sector organizations through to presenting to Government leaders at APEC summits; and from advising Public Sector CEOs on strategy development and project implementation through to partnering with private companies to deliver associated services. Michael spent several years based in Tokyo and was a Brookings Congressional Fellow, based in Washington, DC. 

Before joining IBM Michael completed a BBSc at La Trobe University, an MSc at the University of Melbourne and a PhD at the University of Alberta. 

Michael is an Australian and spends his time in Melbourne, New York and all parts of the world