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Mauricio Esteban Rodas Espinel
GGtz5vykI After working in other Latin American cities, including Mexico City, he returned to Ecuador to enter politics. He founded the SUMA Party, and was the youngest person every to be elected as Mayor of Quito.
Later, he moved to Mexico, where he founded DS Consultores, a public policy consulting firm based in Mexico City. He advised different Federal government ministries in Mexico, as well as state and local governments in that country.
In 2007, Dr. Rodas founded Fundacion Ethos, a public policy think tank in Mexico City. Since 2008, Dr. Rodas promotes a political concept called "Responsible Government Model", an innovative and modern vision that seeks to go beyond the traditional left-right wing divide to foster prosperity based on responsible policies.
Dr. Rodas has worked as analyst for various international media enterprises, including: CNN, Televisa, TV Azteca, Foreign Policy, BBC World, Reforma, Revista Poder, among others.
Between 2011 and 2019 Rodas was a high-profile political figure in Ecuador. Since 2019, after finishing his mayoral term, Rodas has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, where he lectures on cities climate infrastructure financing. Also, he is currently a Senior Advisor on Heat and City Diplomacy at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council, where he leads the "City Champions for Heat Action Initiative". Rodas is the co-Chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Commission on BiodiverCities, and a member of the United Nations' Committee of Experts on Public Administration. He coordinated the creation of the SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance, co-Chaired by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, and Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. Rodas is the Executive Secretary of this Commission, which is exploring and promoting reforms to the global financial architecture to increase cities' access to climate finance.
On May 14, 2014, Rodas took office as Metropolitan Mayor of Quito, after winning the election against the incumbent candidate with 61% of the votes. He was the youngest mayor in the history of the city.
Rodas was the hosting mayor of the United Nations Conference on Urban Sustainable Development Habitat III, receiving almost 30,000 international delegates.
He has been very active in the most important city networks. In 2015 he was elected World co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (for which he was reelected for a second term). He was a member of the Global Executive Committee of ICLEI, the Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, and Vice Chair of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
He was a Global Young Leader and a member of the Global Future Councils of the World Economic Forum.
During Rodas' mayoral term, international economic figures, such as the president of the Interamerican Development Bank and the vice-president of the World Bank, recognized Quito's Metro as an international example of a project of its kind: it was completed on schedule, on budget and using the latest technology.
When Rodas left office in May 2019, the Metro had 93% construction progress and a ready-to-implement roadmap for its operation within 6 months. However, due to subsequent technical and administrative failures, it took three municipal administrations and almost 5 years for having the Metro operating on December 1, 2023. The World Bank has praised the important social, economic and environmental benefits the Metro is bringing to Quito's citizens.
In 2016 Mayor Rodas launched the light festival in the Historic District. Heritage buildings and public spaces served as gigantic canvases for this magical show. The light festival boosted domestic and international tourism. In 2018, during its third edition, this celebration attracted more than 3.2 million people, becoming the second-largest festival of light in the world.
In 2017, during the One Planet Summit organized by President Emmanuelle Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, Mayor Rodas launched a global Call to Action to redesign the international financing architecture and channel resources into cities for an effective climate change fight. Mayor Rodas has played a major leadership international role.
In April 2019, he was selected as of the 100 World's Most Influential People for Climate Policy by Apolitical.
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