Mauricio Rodas served as Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, from 2014 to 2019. During his tenure, he led the construction of the country’s first Metro line, completed in a record-breaking three years and delivered on schedule and within budget, becoming a recognized international best practice. He also implemented a wide range of initiatives to advance urban sustainability and resilience, social equity, and inclusive economic development. As Mayor, Rodas hosted the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) and held senior leadership roles across major global city networks, including World Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments, Vice-Chair of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and Board Member of the Global Covenant of Mayors, and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

Currently, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturing on cities climate-resilient infrastructure finance; Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment; Senior Advisor at the Atlantic Council Climate Resilient Center, and member of the United Nations’ Committee of Experts on Public Administration.

Rodas is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities, and the Executive Committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors.

Mauricio has conducted extensive work in exploring innovative mechanisms to fund urban sustainability initiatives. He launched the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance, where he serves as Executive Secretary. The Commission, co-chaired by the Mayors of Paris and Rio de Janeiro, alongside Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Founder and President of SDSN, brings together 80+ mayors, leaders of city networks, representatives of international financial institutions, the private sector, and academia to promote new financial mechanisms for sustainable infrastructure projects in cities.

As the founder of Meridio Consulting—an urban sustainable development firm—he has worked with cities across five continents including Athens, Barranquilla, Dhaka, Freetown, Miami, Melbourne, Monterrey, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, and Seville. In 2020, he served as an advisor to Riyadh’s Urban 20 Chairmanship, and since 2023 he has advised the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

Mauricio serves as a member of the Advisory Network of Urban Partners, a leading urban investment platform based in Denmark that develops cutting-edge, district-scale sustainable infrastructure projects. His expertise in urban best practices is exemplified by his role as a jury member for some of the world’s most renowned awards, including the C40–Bloomberg Philanthropies Award, the WRI Ross Center Prize for Sustainable Cities, the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

Mauricio is a former Young Global Leader and a member of the Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization of the WEF. He was also selected for the Bloomberg Harvard Mayors Program. Recognized as one of the 100 World's Most Influential People on Climate Action by Apolitical, he received the University of Pennsylvania’s World Urban Leadership Award and ICLEI’s Climate Action and Sustainability Leadership Award.

He began his professional career with the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America in Mexico, and later as a consultant on sustainable development for the federal and state governments in that country. Upon returning to Ecuador, he founded SUMA, a national political party, and ran for President of Ecuador in 2013. The following year, he was elected Mayor of Quito, becoming the youngest Mayor in the city’s history.

He holds a JD from Universidad Católica de Quito and two master's degrees, in Government Administration and Political Science, from the University of Pennsylvania (Fulbright Scholarship).