As the Global Cities Director for Arcadis, John leads a billion-euro client portfolio of 21 Cities including a global team of City Executives who are dedicated to delivering sustainable urban outcomes which improve a city’s quality of life and liveability.

Under John’s direction, the Global Cities Program aims to create liveable cities by improving resilience, mobility, and urbanization. His city executive team works with cities to become more intelligent, by applying data analytics to make better decisions and create smarter cities. His global cities community provides a platform where colleagues across regions exchange insights about the most prominent urban issues, and initiate city-to-city collaboration.

Under his executive sponsorship, Arcadis has developed a number of city focused marketing campaigns, ranging from future mobility, decarbonization and the Sustainable Cities Index series, which was built around comparing and contrasting global cities according to the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit) as a way of evaluating city sustainability. The indices’ methodology indicates of where cities have an opportunity to improve quality of life and allow sharing of global best practices. Under John’s direction, a Sustainable Cities Index was released in 2015, 2016 and 2018. A Sustainable Cities Water Index was published in 2016 and a Sustainable Cities Mobility Index in 2017.

Prior to his current position, he was the Global Director of Water and the Director of Strategic Client Development for Arcadis North America. John has a wealth of experience which includes Sustainable Cities & Communities, Environmental Compliance, Environmental Public Health, Marketing & Branding, Water Utility Management and Thought Leadership & Public Speaking.
 

Theo was appointed in 2017 as London's first Chief Digital Officer to lead on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall.  Since then he has developed the Smart London Together Roadmap (2018) and initiated a series of programmes to build London’s collective capability for innovation including the establishment of the London Office of Technology and Innovation, the Mayor’s Civic Innovation Challenges and the Connected London Programme for fibre infrastructure.  Theo is currently supporting the city’s Recovery programme, developing a new London Datastore and a city-wide Charter for Emerging Technology.

Andy Byford is a transport professional whose thirty year career has spanned three continents.   

Andy joined London Underground in 1989 as a uniformed Station Foreman before working his way up to General Manager of the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines.  After a spell as Operations and Safety Director of two mainline train operating companies, Andy’s career took him to Sydney as Chief Operating Officer of Australia’s largest railway network then on to Canada where he headed up the Toronto Transit Commission. Most recently, Andy served as President of New York City Transit, the busiest and largest transit system in North America.  

Andy returned to Transport for London in June 2020 as Commissioner. He grew up in Plymouth and is a graduate of the University of Leicester.  

Harry Cassar is a Technology Director in bp’s Future Mobility & Solutions and Digital Science & Engineering teams working on future mobility projects and working with bp’s businesses to identify new and advanced digital technologies and the opportunities and potential disruptions they bring. Additionally, Harry is also responsible for the technology due diligence of companies that bp invests in.

With over 20 years’ experience in Digital Innovations Harry has held a variety of leadership roles in design, delivery, and strategy with BP and his previous employer, British Telecom International. He has a firm belief that the power of innovation is only realized through its application at scale and as such is a strong proponent of understanding not just new technology but also a deep understanding of the needs and strategies of the businesses built through strong relationships.

Harry has been quoted in several external journals such as the Financial Times, BBC and New York Times, cited in “Innovation alchemists, what every CEO needs to know to hire the right Chief Innovation Officer” and “The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations.”  He has also won both internal/external awards for his work, including BP’s prestigious ‘Helios Partnership award.’

Harry is an Electrical & Electronic engineer by background.
 

Stephen Dadswell is Head of Corporate Finance at Transport for London , the integrated transport authority responsible for the majority of public transport in Greater London and for delivering the Mayor of London’s £80bn transport strategy . 

TfL Corporate Finance is responsible  for managing TfL’s corporate debt (including a listed bond programme), cash balances, insurance, third party funding and structuring and executing complex, multi-stakeholder financing transactions. 

In a 13-year career at TfL, Stephen has been responsible for structuring and closing the Silvertown Tunnel PPP and the acquisitions of the Metronet and Tube Lines PPPs and reintegration into London Underground. Stephen has also been responsible for developing funding and financing solutions for a series of other projects including other new river crossings as well as the Bakerloo line, Northern line and DLR extensions.

Stephen has also been responsible for setting up and managing a new commercial development team within TfL. He has previously worked in corporate finance teams in DfT and PwC and started his working career as an engineer at Over Arup on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (aka HS1).

Emma Degg is the Chief Executive of the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT). The NWBLT brings together leaders of national and international businesses with substantial commitments and interests in the North West of England.  The Team works to exert its collective influence for the long-term good of the region, economically, environmentally, culturally and socially.

Emma has spent her career focussed upon bringing together business leaders and policy makers to make a tangible difference, nationally, across the North West and in local government.  She regards the promotion of responsible business leadership as essential to the future of the UK economy. 

Emma serves on the UK2070 independent House of Lords Commission led by Sir Bob Kerslake that is examining how to tackle the UK’s economic and social regional disparities. She is a Board Member of Made Smarter North West and a Trustee of ‘We Mind the Gap’.

Billy’s career in telecommunications and technology spans 25 years. He has held several senior leadership roles in the UK and Ireland, focusing on public sector activities across central and local government, and the third sector.

In 2017, he joined BAI Communications as CEO for their UK operation. Billy’s role with BAI entails expanding BAI's capabilities across Europe with particular focus on the UK market.

Before joining BAI, Billy worked for Telefonica O2 UK as Managing Director for Enterprise and Public Sector Business. In this role, he was responsible for Telefonica O2 UK’s public sector activities and for activities in the Enterprise marketplace leading successful major projects across strategic partnering and compliance.

Billy is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology and the University College Dublin (Dr. Michael Smurfitt Business School).
 

Claudette is a regeneration professional with more 30 years’ experience of developing and implementing large scale regeneration programmes within regional and local government.  A former Executive Director at the London Development Agency, she spearhead a £125m per annum London-wide regeneration programme.  More recently, as a Director of CAF Consulting Ltd, she has been assisting a range of largely public sector organisations in their regeneration and economic development efforts.  

Jamie joined Uber in June 2018 as Regional General Manager for Northern and Eastern Europe. The role covers Uber’s rides business in more than 70 cities and 12 countries including the UK. Across Northern and Eastern Europe, Uber serves more than 110,000 drivers and around 8 million active riders

Previously, Jamie was at Amazon, where he was Director of their Electronics division in the UK responsible for both the Retail and Marketplace businesses.

Before joining Amazon in 2014, Jamie spent 15 years in telecoms, where he was Managing Director of Virgin Mobile in the UK and launched Virgin Mobile in India and Orange in Thailand. He was also CEO of Virgin Mobile in China for three years and started his career in Asia working for the Swire Group.
 

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe was elected Leader of Bradford Council in May 2016. Susan is Bradford born and bred and has served as councillor for Windhill & Wrose since 2011.  She has been the Chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority since 2017 and also leads on Skills for the region. As such she is delighted that the region has now achieved a West Yorkshire Mayoral Devolution Deal which will commence in May 2021.

Under Susan’s leadership the Council has sustained momentum for economic growth which has seen redevelopment of major assets such as St George’s Hall, Cliffe Castle and the Bradford Live venue, formation of three Business Improvement Districts, innovative skills partnerships around key economic sectors, extension of enterprise zones supporting smaller businesses and successful attraction of major new companies to the District such as PwC and the NEC - just some of the reasons why Barclays named Bradford the best place to start a high growth business in the UK.  

Before getting involved in politics Susan had a wide-ranging career, from running her own business, to working in a Marketing agency and also spending five years in a management role at a national newspaper. Immediately prior to becoming Leader, she worked for Business in the Community, a national charity which promotes responsible business practice. There she managed the Healthy High Streets regeneration programme, a national programme operating in 67 towns across the UK.
 
Focussed on delivering improved Transport, Education and Culture across the region, Susan is clear about what needs to be achieved and is building partnerships across the country to turn these ambitions into reality.
 

During his time as CEO, Heathrow has consistently improved service levels for passengers, while reducing costs, and it is now rated one of the best airports in the world. Heathrow was named “Sustainable Business of the Year” at the edie awards and one of the Best Companies to work for by the Sunday Times. 

He is chair of the Business in the Community Employment and Skills Leadership Team, a member of DEFRA’s Council for Sustainable Business, a member of HRH the Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Council, and a Commissioner with the Energy Transitions Commission. John is also a Non-Executive Director at Thames Tideway. 

Before becoming CEO in July 2014, he was Development Director, responsible for delivering the £2.5bn Terminal 2 on time and on budget. 

Prior to joining Heathrow, John worked in housebuilding with Taylor Wimpey, in brewing and leisure retail with Bass plc and as a strategy consultant with LEK. He has lived and worked in the UK, US, Australia and the Philippines. 
 

Amanda is Vice-Chancellor & President at the University of East London and has held Chairs in International Business & Marketing at multiple institutions in the UK and Visiting Chairs internationally. An eminent social scientist, she has a strong leadership track record and rare insight into a cross-section of strategic groupings of Universities. Before joining East London, she was Chief Executive Officer, Newcastle University London; Pro-Vice Chancellor (International Priorities) & Executive Dean of the College of Business & Law, University of Salford; Principal of St. Cuthbert’s Society (a Durham University College) and Deputy Dean of Durham Business School. She led the 2014 Times Higher Education Business School of the Year.

Charlie is a PwC Corporate Finance Partner and the UK Transport and Logistics Leader.
 
Charlie is a strategic thinker and specialises in providing financial, commercial, procurement and structuring advice on the delivery of complex projects. He has 20 years experience advising on infrastructure financing, equipment financing and procurement and concessions. Charlie has worked on projects in the UK and 19 other countries across a number of sectors including Transport, Health, Education, Housing and Defence.   His clients include Department for Transport, Transport for London, Network Rail, HS2 and a range of private sector transport operators and infrastructure funds.

Sara Kelly is the Connected London lead at the Greater London Authority. She is responsible for delivering the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to improve London’s digital connectivity and the Connected London work programme. Her work includes coordinating grant funding for the Connected London Full Fibre network, developing the Standardised Mobile Agreement, and other project and policy work facilitating and promoting London’s digital infrastructure.
 
Sara joined the GLA in 2013. Prior to that she worked with technology start-ups as the Executive Director at the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec), with a wide range of clients at a public affairs consultancy, and for a Member of Parliament. 
 

Rishi Madlani has worked for NatWest Group for over 15 years across the London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt offices. Rishi leads Sustainable Finance for the Group which encompasses the bank’s activities supporting the transition to a lower carbon economy and increasing our funding to areas with a wider social purpose. Over the last 2 years the bank provided £9.9bn of funding to the Sustainable Energy sector and the bank has now set a £20bn funding and financing target to support climate and sustainable finance.
 
Outside the office Rishi serves as an elected Councillor in Camden, representing Bloomsbury ward, and is Chair of the London Borough of Camden Pension Committee. The fund is a Local Government Pension Scheme and won a LAPF Award for its innovative approach to ESG. Total membership of the fund is c. 20,000 and the total market value of the assets is c. £1.8bn.

Rishi also serves on the boards of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association and RenewableUK.

Mike McNicholas is Managing Director of 'Atkins’ infrastructure division, a diverse business operating across numerous markets including Aviation, Defence, Energy, Transportation, Cities & Development, Education and Water. He is also the company’s director for London.

A Chartered Civil Engineer by profession, Mike joined Atkins following graduation from Imperial College, London in 1982. Having driven and worked on a wide range of projects during his career, from the Burj al Arab to London 2012 Games, he now leads a team of 3,000 professionals ranging in skill from Architecture to Systems Engineering.

Mike is passionate about helping young people forge careers in engineering, particularly at a time when the industry is adapting to the digital revolution.
 

Gabriel Metcalf is the CEO of the Committee for Sydney, a role he has held since January 2019. The Committee for Sydney is a research and advocacy organisation that works with leaders across Sydney to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.

From 2005 to 2018, he served as the President and CEO of SPUR, an urban policy research and advocacy group for the San Francisco Bay Area. Gabriel led SPUR through a major expansion of its work, staffing, funding, geographic footprint, and impact.

Gabriel has led initiatives on housing, transport, economic development, and climate adaptation, among other topics, striving to bring together both vision and practicality. 

Gabriel earned a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design. From 2016-2018 he held the Cornish Endowed Chair in City and Regional Planning at U.C. Berkeley, where he taught an acclaimed course, “Cities and Social Change.”

A frequent speaker and writer on planning and policy topics, some of his publications include Sand Castles Before the Tide: Affordable Housing in Expensive Cities; Four Scenarios for Year 2070; Learning from Tokyo; The San Francisco Exodus; and The Great Dithering. He is also the author of Democratic by Design (St. Martin’s Press, 2015).
 

Andy Mitchell has been Chief Executive Officer of Tideway since early summer 2014. He was previously Programme Director and board member at Crossrail. Andy has managed a number of high profile projects both in the United Kingdom and overseas. After 12 years working in the United Arab Emirates, France and South Africa and on major developments such as Hong Kong Airport and the Hong Kong West Rail, he joined Network Rail in 2001. He was Project Director for Network Rail’s Southern Power Upgrade project, and was also the Major Programme Director of the Thameslink Programme. Andy is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, former Chair of the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Platform (i3P), and the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) and since 2018 has been Co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC). He was awarded the CBE for his services to Civil Engineering.

Donald Morrison is Jacobs’ People & Places Solutions U.K./Europe Senior Vice President and General Manager and Global Executive Sponsor of Digital, and leads over 6,000 people in the delivery of critical buildings, transport, water and environmental projects to support thriving cities & communities and resilient environments.

In his 28 years at Jacobs, Donald has enjoyed a variety of experiences and successes alongside enthusiastic teams and inspirational leaders. A STEM Learning U.K. Ambassador, he is passionate about people and strives to develop an environment where everyone can unleash their potential by leveraging the strengths and diversity of individuals and teams to deliver solutions that challenge the norm.

A Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Donald believes in challenging today to reinvent tomorrow; empowering his teams to look at challenges from a different perspective to create better outcomes for people and communities. He endeavours to build inclusive and diverse teams that deliver with integrity and do the right thing for clients, communities and each other. 

As its first permanent Director, he has established the Northern Powerhouse Partnership as the business led organisation which convenes the North together. From securing further investment to guarantee HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail would work together as an integrated high speed network, to challenging for a better deal for the most disadvantaged from the education system, his team are focused on how government, business and partners can drive the North’s ambitions. Before joining the Partnership, he worked in senior research and public affairs roles for the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Yorkshire Building Society, as well as previously serving as Cabinet Member for Quality of Life at Newcastle City Council. 

Dr. William Oliver Norman is London’s first Walking and Cycling Commissioner, working to deliver the Mayor’s pledges to make walking and cycling safer and easier in the capital.

Will was previously Director of Global Partnerships at Nike. He spent more than three years working with not-for-profits, governments, UN agencies and European Institutions to tackle the global inactivity crisis, with a particular focus on getting children more active.

Prior to working at Nike, Will was Director of Research at the Young Foundation and also set up a successful social research consultancy.

Will has a PhD from the London School of Economics. He is an avid cyclist and enjoys both running and walking throughout the capital. He lives with his family in east London.

Jesse Norman was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 23 May 2019.

Jesse was Paymaster General from 23 May 2019 to 24 July 2019. He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from November 2018 to May 2019.

Before that, he was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport from June 2017 to November 2018.

He was elected as Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire in May 2010.

Henry oversees national level policy and public affairs for BT Group’s key network businesses, specifically EE’s 4G & 5G Networks, Openreach (who BT Group is sole shareholder in) and delivery of key broadband initiatives such them as Universal Service Obligation for Broadband.

Prior to joining BT, Henry worked in a variety of policy and public affairs roles across the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific. Most recently he led public affairs for the doctors regulator, The General Medical Council. He was public policy lead for the GSMA, the leading mobile industry trade body, in their Hong Kong office and was responsible for engagement with 23 governments across the Asia Pacific region. Before that, he was public affairs lead for Gatwick Airport during the launch of their campaign to build a second runway.

Henry holds an MA from Kings College London, and a BA from the University of London. 

Sowmya is a Director of Integrated City Planning at Arup. She has 25 years of global experience in the US, UK, Middle East, and India in the masterplanning and regeneration of urban areas experiencing growth and change. Sowmya’s work focuses on the design of places underpinned by a resilient model of urbanisation that makes efficient use of natural resources, promotes low carbon growth, and accommodates technological advances in transport and energy with the aim of enabling a high quality of life for people. 

Sowmya leads a design team in Arup London with a growing expertise in the use of automation and digital tools to visualise and assess spatial data to inform the design of cities and places. She has been a designer and advisor on projects in the public as well as private sector including Battersea Power Station, London's Olympic Legacy Masterplan and sustainability vision, the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus expansion in South Cambridgeshire, the 10,000-home St. Cuthbert’s Garden Village, and a placemaking strategy for London’s Broadgate office campus.

Sowmya was appointed in 2017 by the Mayor of London as a Mayoral Design Advocate. As part of this role, she is responsible for working with City Hall and London boroughs to advance London’s Good Growth by Design programme. She is a member of the London Design Review Panel and review panels for Transport for London and the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation.

Liz Peace has more than 35 years' experience in government and the property sector. She spent her early career in the Ministry of Defence, eventually becoming a key player in the team that created QinetiQ plc. She subsequently served as Chief Executive of the British Property Federation (BPF) for thirteen years where she regards her key achievement as being the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). She was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to the property industry.

 Having retired from the BPF at the end of 2014, Liz now has a portfolio career with a range of non-executive, advisory and charity roles, at Howard de Walden Estates, RPS Group plc, RDI REIT plc,  the Churches Conservation Trust, Whiteley Village Trust and the Connected Places Catapult. She is Chairman of the Architectural Heritage Fund and Centre for London and President of the Property Litigation Association.

In 2017 Liz was appointed Chairman of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and in 2018 she became Chair of the Sponsor Board for the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme. She is also a member of the Mayor of London’s Homes for Londoners Board

Keith has over 35 years of experience in the infrastructure, property and finance sectors working at Regional Board level for several major companies both in the UK and overseas (USA) and has a background in both architecture (degree from Cambridge) and finance (Chartered Accountant with PWC)

Keith’s team at Arcadis provides ‘Green Book’ Business Case assessments and financial case services for public and private sector clients. 

His team also provides client-side Land & Property CPO, compensation, land value capture and wider business case benefit realisation advice and implementation, such as to HE on the new Lower Thames Crossing and previously Thames Tideway Tunnel. In respect of the later project Keith was also a lead partner on Arcadis’ Vendor DD reporting which was a key part of the successful DPC approach and capital raise by the stakeholders.

For regional government Keith has written business cases and leads the commercial strategy for new ventures with emphasis on viability and public value. Current main clients include Folkestone & Hythe for a new 10,000 home new Garden Town in Kent (Otterpool’) and Granton a district regeneration project in Edinburgh; both with substantial strategic infrastructure requirements.
In wider City Resilience Keith has been part of an Arcadis team running planning workshops for several Cities (many under the Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cites Programme) including; Delhi (India), Bristol, Bolton, Manchester, Veijle (Denmark), Ghent, Paris, Bratislava and Amora (Portugal). 

Keith is a senior lecturer at UCL and as a faculty member of the Bartlett school, is a core member of the team engaged in developing thinking in Policy Led Multi Criteria Analysis (through the Omega Centre) that has advised both UK and international government on major infrastructure appraisal.

In the private sector Keith has advised (whilst at Arcadis) and led (whilst at P&O, Lend Lease and Helical Bar) a wide range of major individual development and investment projects such as at Greenwich Peninsula, Bluewater & Ebbsfleet, Qatar22 World Cup Legacy and was involved, while at P&O, in many of the early UK PFI projects and overseas BOTs.

Steve is the UK Country Manager of Ford owned Spin Mobility and is working with cities to deliver successful e-scooter trials in line with the DfT national trials.

Steve has had a varied career, but developed his passion for micromobility after joining the London Cycle Hire Scheme just before it launched in June 2010. During this time he undertook a variety of roles at the organisation, shaping, improving and innovating the scheme, while it expanded to 12000 bikes. Steve was also Mobike’s first hire outside of Asia and grew the UK operation to be the largest international market and more recently gained experience of e-bike share systems with Ride On.

Jeremy Rees is CEO of ExCeL London. He has worked in the exhibition and events industry for over two decades in various roles as organiser, supplier and venue operator for companies including Clarion Events, Earls Court & Olympia Group and from 2010, ExCeL London. Jeremy currently sits on the Board of Association of Event Venues (AEV) and Events Industry Association (EIA), as Treasurer, and has served as Chairman for each organisation. Jeremy is also a board director of The Royal Docks Management Authority (RODMA) and is actively involved in a number of charities including the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) as a non-executive director on the trading board; an active participant for the Lords Taverners Charity and advisory board chairman for NASSA (Newham All Star Sports Academy).

Shirley Rodrigues was appointed as London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy in October 2016. Previously she oversaw a global climate change grants portfolio at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) developing their cities and climate strategy, and has devised and delivered new environmental policies and programmes in London, nationally and internationally. 
She is now working to deliver the Mayor’s vision of making London greener, cleaner and healthier through implementing his London Environment Strategy. This includes ambitious programmes to reduce air pollution across London including the implementation of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, tackle the climate and ecological emergency and help the capital become a zero waste city.  A key focus is on ensuring London’s economic and social recovery from the impacts of Covid-19 is a green and fair one.
 

Andrew Rose currently acts in Non-Executive, Senior Adviser and Trustee roles across various sectors including infrastructure, housing  and social impact investing. In his Executive career he was a multiple CEO of companies in both the public and private sectors.

His CEO roles included the Homes & Communities Agency, the country’s housing, land and regeneration agency, now known as Homes England. In this role he created the country’s housing bank which has a multiple billion-pound investment portfolio dedicated to supporting Government’s policy of increasing housing supply. He has also been Chief Executive of Infrastructure UK (IUK) in HM Treasury. IUK produced the country’s first National Infrastructure Plan. Most recently he was the inaugural Chief Executive of the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA), a membership body representing investors in global infrastructure and leading advisers to the sector. He was in this role until the end of 2019.

Andrew’s other private sector roles have included Managing Director, Investment Banking, CIBC World Markets, where he established and led the Canadian bank’s European infrastructure investment banking practice, and where he worked for 17 years in both the UK and USA. 

He now has a portfolio of roles. He has recently been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of The Oversight Trust, formerly Big Society Trust, which has a governance role for four social impact investment companies including Big Society Capital, which are funded  primarily from dormant bank account money. He also sits on the Department for International Trade Capital Investment Advisory Board and is a Senior Adviser to Agilia Infrastructure Partners and a start-up enterprise software mental wellbeing company. He is on the Advisory Panel for the COVID Recovery Commission. The aim of the Commission is to produce policy ideas to support higher productivity levels, promote investment and a culture of innovation post the pandemic.

She is a Senior Independent Director at SGN Network and the Energy Systems Catapult.  She is Chair of the Northern Ireland Expert Panel on Energy Transition and was Chair of the BEIS/Ofgem Energy System Data Taskforce.  She was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Government’s Cost of Energy Review, and is on the Council for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage.

She is founder of the Food Foundation and co-founder of POWERful Women and former Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency. 

She was previously a Member of Parliament for South Thanet, and described by The Times as ‘one of the sanest of all MPs’ and as ‘lateral-minded, original and free-thinking’. 
 

Cllr Johnson Situ is Southwark’s Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency, Planning and Transport. 

In recent years he has led the council’s commitment to ensuring local communities see the benefits of growth in the borough. He has also led the work on Southwark’s new local plan and since then he has developed the council’s approach on strategic transport infrastructure and relationship with Transport for London. 

Johnson is lead member for Southwark’s response to the Climate Emergency and its commitment to reach net zero by 2030. 
Since 2014, he has represented Peckham ward in Southwark. Prior to joining Southwark’s Cabinet, he worked in International Development.

Rachel is Executive Director (Transport) of WSP and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She is also the Senior Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers and will become its President in November 2020. In 2019, she was appointed by the Scottish Government as a Commissioner for the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland. Rachel is a Patron of Women in Transport (a not-for-profit), having been one of its founding board members since 2005. She is a chartered engineer, chartered transport planner and an ICE Fellow and Trustee.

Rachel was named in The Telegraph’s inaugural Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2016, then in 2017 she won both “Most Distinguished Winner” and “Best Woman in Civil Engineering” at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards.  In 2019 she was confirmed by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Top 100 Women in Engineering. She is regularly invited to give keynote conference presentations and to chair or participate in panel discussions at national industry events.

A transport planner and geographer by technical background, Rachel has authored and co-authored several publications, most recently on driverless vehicles, shared mobility and future place-making. She is involved with strategic projects for clients across the public and private sectors, including leadership of a growing portfolio of future mobility projects in the UK and overseas.

As the CEO of High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd, Mark has the privilege and ultimate responsibility for leading the company that has been charged with delivering a new high speed railway that will connect the major cities of the UK.  The vision is for HS2 to be a catalyst for growth across Britain and become the backbone of Britain’s rail network.  It will better connect the country’s major cities and economic hubs and will help deliver a stronger, more balanced economy, better able to compete on the global stage.  It will open up local and regional markets and will attract investment and improve job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people across the whole country.  HS2 Ltd began operations in January 2009.  The company currently employs around 1,600 people, with the majority of staff working at its headquarters in Birmingham. 
 
Mark joined HS2 Ltd in March 2017; he has some 30 years’ experience including leadership roles in engineering, project and programme management and business operations.  Having worked for client, consulting and delivery organisations, Mark has a successful track record across a mix of major organisations and investment programmes and worked on both the London 2012 Olympics and Crossrail.  He was previously the European MD of engineering and projects company CH2M. 
 
Mark started his career as a technician apprentice on the London Underground.  He is a Visiting Professor at the Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management at UCL and an honorary fellow at both the Association for Project Management and the Institution of Civil Engineers.  In 2019 he received an honorary doctorate of technology at the University of East London.  

Julian Ware is Head of Major Project Funding at Transport for London. 

Since 2007 Julian has worked on the Crossrail 1 project (£15 billion) seeing new funding streams through to implementation. 

He also helped put together the funding for the Northern Line to Battersea Power Station (£1 billion) and the rail extension at Barking (£200 million).  He has led TfL’s work on land value capture and fiscal devolution for several years.

Julian worked at KPMG between 2001 and 2007 mainly on international rail projects – having started his career in the UK Department of Transport.

Matt Webb is Head of Enterprise Data Management for UK Power Networks; the electricity distribution network operator for London and the south-east of England. As an information systems and data management professional, he is accountable for the end-to-end asset data and information lifecycle, including collection and capture, asset register and geospatial systems management, data quality management and data governance.

Prior to joining UK Power Networks in 2008, Matt operated in various management and leadership roles within the construction and building services sector.

Mark has had more than 30 years leading complex and critical infrastructure. A chartered electrical engineer he started his career in the electricity sector, but the majority of his experience has been in transportation. He has had a long career in operating and building major transportation infrastructure. He is the former Managing Director of Westinghouse Signals and was the CEO of Public Transport Victoria. Mark has also been the Managing Director of London Undergound. In December 2018 he was appointed CEO of Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

Kate Willard is the Thames Estuary Envoy. Government-appointed, and chair of the Thames Estuary Growth Board, she is the driving force behind their ambitious plans to transform the area.
 
Kate is senior advisor to Stobart Group and an independent consultant working on a diverse portfolio of infrastructure and growth projects.
 
Kate has lived and worked in Hungary, France and Belgium as an independent regeneration expert with the European Commission. In her role, Kate pushed forward major transnational projects in employment, social cohesion and regional development. Kate’s highlights include establishing the first UK-Hungarian cultural partnership trust and being appointed CEO of the UK’s first rural regeneration company.
 
Kate is a Churchill Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
 

Kathryn Wylde is President and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, the city’s leading business organization. Its mission is to work with government, labor, and the civic sector to build a stronger New York, with a focus on education, infrastructure and the economy.

Prior to taking over the Partnership presidency in 2001, Ms. Wylde was the founding CEO of both the Partnership’s housing and investment fund affiliates.  She was responsible for developing and managing affordable housing and economic development programs that contributed to the renaissance of blighted urban neighborhoods across the five boroughs. With the investment fund, she built a network of business leaders and investors that nurtured the growth of the city’s “innovation economy,” creating thousands of jobs and promoting entrepreneurship and social enterprise. 

Ms. Wylde regularly contributes opinion pieces and commentary on urban policy issues and serves on many nonprofit boards.