The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. As a delegate to Boys Nation while in high school, he met President John Kennedy in the White House Rose Garden. The encounter led him to enter a life of public service. Clinton graduated from Georgetown University and in 1968 won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1973, and shortly thereafter entered politics in Arkansas.
Elected President of the United States in 1992, and again in 1996, President Clinton was the first Democratic president to be awarded a second term in six decades. Under his leadership, the United States enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.
President Clinton's core values of building community, creating opportunity, and demanding responsibility resulted in unprecedented progress for America, including moving the nation from record deficits to record surpluses; the creation of over 22 million jobs - more than any other administration; low levels of unemployment, poverty and crime; and the highest homeownership and college enrollment rates in history. His accomplishments as president include increasing investment in education, expanding access to technology, encouraging investment in underserved communities, protecting the environment, and promoting peace and strengthening democracy around the world.
After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To achieve this, the Clinton Foundation is focused on four critical areas: health security, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS; economic empowerment; leadership development and citizen service; and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation.
Building on his long-term commitment to preserving the environment, President Clinton launched the Clinton Foundation's Climate Initiative (CCI) in August 2006 with the mission of applying the Foundation's business-oriented approach to the fight against climate change in practical, measurable and significant ways.
Paul Hawkin
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He is the founder and executive director of the Natural Capital Institute, a non-profit committed to the restoration of the earth and the healing of human culture. Hawken also heads the Pax Group, a collection of companies using biomimicry and fluid dynamics to create energy-saving rotors, fans, and turbines.
Hawken's books include the seminal work Natural Capitalism, co-authored with Amory Lovins, which President Clinton called one of the five most important books in the world today. His newest book, Blessed Unrest, reveals the diversity and innovation of a worldwide grassroots movement of hope and humanity.
Mayor's Roundtable on Sustainable Cities & Green Communities
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
Albuquerque Mayor Martin J. Chavez
Austin Mayor Will Wynn
Convener Susan S. Szenasy
The futures of the world's greatest cities are being shaped by sustainability. With innovative programs such as the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the Clinton Climate Initiative, and LEED adoptions, cities are leading global action against climate change.
Join a distinguished panel of our most visionary mayors to learn how they are using sustainability to deliver immediate and measurable improvements in their cities' economies, environment, and quality of life.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has earned a reputation for innovative, community-based programs to address the many challenges facing American cities. Since his election in 1989, Daley's quality-of-life focus has emphasized delivery of basic services, from graffiti removal to a citywide recycling plan. On his watch, the city has planted 500,000 trees and spurred construction of rooftop gardens on major buildings, including City Hall.
Daley's numerous honors include American City and County magazine's Municipal Leader of the Year, the National Arbor Day Foundation's J. Sterling Morton Award, and the Urban Parks Institute's Catalyst Award for Urban Park Leadership.
Albuquerque Mayor Martin J. Chavez's 1993-1997 term featured a citywide cleanup, reduced crime, and the start of a highly successful water-conservation campaign. Chavez returned to the Mayor's Office in 2001 and has restored fiscal discipline, supported well-planned growth, rebuilt the public safety infrastructure and broken ground on an historic surface-water project.
Under Chavez's leadership, Albuquerque's water use has reduced by 33%. The city has gained national prominence in reports and studies praising its business climate and cultural amenities. Chavez has expanded partnerships with public education and initiated social-service reforms to more effectively serve the community's most vulnerable members.
Austin Mayor Will Wynn serves as chairman of the Board of Directors for Austin Energy. As such, Wynn presides over the nation's most successful utility-sponsored green power program, an award-winning energy-efficiency program that has eliminated the need for a 500-megawatt coal-burning power plant near Austin, and a green-building program that was the first of its kind in the world.
Wynn has risen to a position of national leadership on energy and climate issues. Since 2004 he has chaired the Energy Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is a key member of the U.S. Mayors Council on Climate Protection.
Convener Susan S. Szenasy has been editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS, the award-winning magazine of architecture, culture, and design, since 1986. She is internationally recognized as an authority on sustainability and design.
Szenasy sits on the boards of the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, FIT Interior Design, the Center for Architecture Advisory Board, and the Landscape Architecture Foundation. She has received two International Interior Design Association Presidential Commendations and is an American Society of Interior Designers distinguished speaker on the topic of ethics in design. Szenasy was a 2007 recipient of the Civitas August Heckscher Award for Community Service and Excellence.