Global cities are on the front lines of the world’s most pressing challenges: they are targets of terrorism, vulnerable to natural disasters, fraught with inequality, and plagued by urban violence. They are also at the center of the most innovative solutions.
Through in-depth panels moderated by Financial Times journalists, intimate discussions, innovative flash talks, intensive workshops, and informal networking – Forum participants will garner new ideas and understanding to improve the efficacy of urban networks, management, and design.
Lead, Cities, Urban Development & Services, World Economic Forum
GENEVA
Chairman and CEO, Revolution LLC
WASHINGTON D.C.
Commissioner, Mayor’s Office International Affairs
NEW YORK
President and CEO, International Rescue Committee
Speakers List >>
View the full 2019 Pritzker Forum on Global Cities agenda today. Individual workshops will be available soon!
Watch previous “TED-style” forum flashtalks describing how a big, bold, and transformative idea can help create a more equitable city.
Meet the next generation of global city thinkers – our Global Student Delegation.
Forum participants are invited to register to participate in a deep-dive workshop on June 6.
The Forum brings together leading experts from urban life. Meet the past speakers and watch videos of previous forums here.
Cities are where action, change, and innovation come together to solve some of humanities biggest challenges.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - Friday, June 7, 2019 6:00 PM - 2:00 PMCentral Time
Revel Fulton Market1215 W Fulton MarketChicago, Illinois 60607
2019 Pritzker Forum on Global Cities
Alice Charles leads all Cities and Urbanization work at the World Economic Forum. She manages the Future of Urban Development and Services Initiative, its Steering and Advisory Committee, the Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization, the production of all city and urban development related content, and events at World Economic Forum Summits. She is also an external board member of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), Ireland; vice-president of the Urban Challenge Steering Committee of the Institut Montaigne, France; and WEF’s representative for the Urban 20. She previously worked for the Department of the Environment, Community, and Local Government, Ireland, Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament), Jacobs Engineering, and Avison Young. She is a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and a member of the Irish Planning Institute. In 2017 she was awarded the Irish Echo 40 under 40 Award. She has an MA in global leadership through the World Economic Forum, an MBA from University College Dublin Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, a postgraduate diploma in town and country planning from Queens University Belfast, and a 1st class honours degree in environmental planning from Queen’s University Belfast.
Steve Case is one of America’s most accomplished entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life. Case co-founded AOL in 1985 and under Case’s leadership and vision, AOL became the largest and most valuable Internet company driving the worldwide adoption of a medium that has transformed business and society. Case is chairman and CEO of Revolution, a Washington, DC-based investment firm he co-founded in 2005. In 2014, Case and Revolution launched the Rise of the Rest, a platform to shine a spotlight on entrepreneurs that are starting and scaling businesses outside of Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston. He is also a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and was a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness where he chaired the subcommittee on entrepreneurship. Case serves as Chairman of the Case Foundation, which he established with his wife Jean in 1997.
Penny Abeywardena is New York City's commissioner for International Affairs. She leads the city's global platform for promoting its goals for a more just and accessible society. Prior to joining the mayor’s office, Abeywardena was the director of Girls and Women Integration at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Before joining CGI, she worked in both development and programmatic areas for Human Rights Watch, the Funding Exchange, and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. In 2017, Abeywardena was named a Young Leader by the French American Foundation. She is also a World Economic Forum 2016 Young Global Leader. In 2012, Abeywardena was recognized by the United Nation’s Decide Now Act (DNA) Summit as one of 101 Global Innovators for her work to put women's rights on the global political agenda. She graduated from University of Southern California and completed her MA in international affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
David Miliband is the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. He oversees the agency’s relief and development operations in over 30 countries, its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout the US, and the IRC’s advocacy efforts in Washington and other capitals on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people. Miliband has had a distinguished political career in the UK. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the youngest Foreign Secretary in three decades, driving advancements in human rights and representing the UK throughout the world. Miliband is also the author of the upcoming book, Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time. Miliband was educated at the University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.