About Us

Our Mission

CNCA’s mission is to mobilize transformative climate action in cities in order to achieve prosperity, social equity, resilience and better quality of life for all on a thriving planet.

CNCA is committed to a just carbon neutral future that recognizes and redresses the disproportionate burdens and the disproportionate benefits of the fossil fuel economy by prioritizing climate action that advances the well-being of low-income people, Indigenous Peoples, communities of color, immigrants and refugees and other historically marginalized communities.

Who We Are

CNCA is an alliance of leading global cities working collaboratively to achieve carbon neutrality in the next 10-20 years while demonstrating innovative solutions and policy approaches to inspire other cities to reach carbon neutrality as quickly as possible.

CNCA member cities are globally influential, have demonstrated deep carbon reductions, and are vocal leaders and risk takers.

What sets CNCA apart from other city networks is that we are the only member-driven, practitioner-led organization created by cities for cities.

CNCA’s core city representatives are the Sustainability and/or Climate Directors and leads in their cities. The membership sets the strategic direction and work priorities for the Alliance while the CNCA team remains lean and agile in implementing the agenda, responding to member needs and pivoting as necessary to lead in new and emerging policy challenges.

Why CNCA

Cities seek the CNCA community because of the unique value created in pooling deep knowledge and expertise to drive transformative climate action.

CNCA members advance and troubleshoot policy development collectively, share learnings and forge support networks, innovate together and build new capacity to take on emerging challenges.

CNCA amplifies the successes from this collective approach, sharing widely with other city officers, stakeholders and communities and engaging a broad array of leaders in transformative climate action.

What We Do

CNCA mobilizes transformative, game-changing climate action through the following seven strategic focus areas:

How We Do It

Our work is supported primarily by philanthropies, whom we consider long-term partners in achieving transformative change.

Philanthropic support allows CNCA to:

Our Leadership

The Steering Committee sets the vision and strategic direction for the Alliance.

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Anna Mitchell

Executive Manager of Sustainability & Resilience, City of Sydney, Australia

Anna leads the City of Sydney’s Sustainability & Resilience team, which sets the vision, targets and action plans for environmental sustainability and urban resilience; and works with internal and external
stakeholders to deliver against these goals. Anna is driven to help organisations become more effective at delivering environmental and resilience outcomes. She enjoys working in a collaborative style to address complex sustainability challenges, using her strengths in project management, change management, facilitation, and communications. Before joining City of Sydney, Anna worked in the finance sector, state government and consultancy in sustainability and community engagement roles.

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Pedro Rolim

Manager of Sustainability and Resilience, City Hall Executive Office of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

An Architect and Urbanist, Pedro has developed numerous urbanization works in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Paraíba (Brazil).

At the Municipal Secretariat of Urbanism (2008-2018), he worked on the review of the City Master Plan, the Rio 2016 Urban and Environmental Legacy Plan and was Head of Social Interest Programs, working with social and urbanistic orientations in favelas and informal communities. He also acted as Coordinator of Qualiverde Qualification, a city hall program to encourage sustainable construction in the municipality, and managed the elaboration of the Sustainable Building Code.

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Gavin Slater

Head of Sustainability, Glasgow City Council, Scotland

Gavin Slater worked in a variety of environmental consultancies until 2009, when he joined Glasgow City Council. In March 2020 Gavin was appointed as the Head of Sustainability at the Glasgow City Council. In his previous role, Gavin served as the City Energy & Carbon Manager for seven years, where he was responsible for delivering the councils carbon management strategy and developing a business case for an Energy Services Company for Glasgow whilst ensuring Glasgow City Council met its Sustainable Glasgow carbon reduction targets. In his role as Project Lead for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Future Cities project, Gavin was responsible for ensuring the delivery of the Energy Efficiency demonstrator projects that form part of the TSB Future Cities initiative: a public-private partnership that combined expertise and technology to enhance daily life in the City of Glasgow. In addition, Gavin is the Chief Responsible Officer for the Glasgow component of the EU Horizon 2020 RUGGEDISED project, a Smart Cities and Communities project design to showcase innovation in sustainable living in cities. Gavin holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science & Environmental Management from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

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Doug Smith

Director of Sustainability, City of Vancouver, Canada

Doug Smith is the Director of Sustainability for the City of Vancouver and his portfolio includes the Greenest City Action Plan, the Renewable City Strategy, the Green Operations Plan and the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Doug represents the City of Vancouver internationally through many networks including the USDN, CNCA, C40, ICLEI and other partners. He has managed many areas in his 26 years at the City of Vancouver including Emergency Management, Structures, Greenways and Equipment Services. This broad municipal experience allows Doug to support Vancouver’s sustainability goals across many of Vancouver priority sectors such as Healthy Cities, Emergency Planning and Resiliency.

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Jaimes Valdez

Portland Clean Energy Works, City of Portland, Oregon, USA

Jaimes Valdez works for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, leading the launch of the groundbreaking Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund. Before this position, Jaimes worked for Spark Northwest, where he covered regulatory, market and legislative policy issues and worked to create communities powered by affordable, locally-controlled clean energy.

He has more than 15 years of experience in energy issues, including in project development, energy planning, utility marketing and public advocacy towards an equitable, clean energy economy. In 2012, he spent a year as a Robert Bosh Fellow in Germany researching cooperatively-funded renewable development, community energy planning, and distributed energy integration. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and environmental studies from Whitman College.

Our Team

CNCA is staffed by a nimble international team of recognized experts in programmatic areas and operations to support members.

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Michael Battista

Member Services and Operations Lead

Michael Battista provides support for communications, media, events, operations, and research. In his previous role as Project Coordinator in the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he supported the programs of Global Fashion Management and Sustainable Interior Environments, producing media, and managing student and alumni relations, special events, and international seminars. Prior to joining FIT, he was the Executive Assistant and Engagement Manager for All Out, a digital campaign advocacy organization for LGBT equality operating in rapid response to the news cycle, and served in roles for the Offices of Protocol and Climate Protection Initiatives of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. He holds an AA in Communications and Media Arts from the State University of New York at Rockland, and a BA in Liberal Studies from San Francisco State University.

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Irene García

Built Environment Lead

Irene García is the Built Environment Lead for CNCA, where she manages the “Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon in Europe” project. Prior to joining CNCA, Irene led the Sustainable and Livable Cities program at German Marshall Fund (GMF) Cities. While at GMF she also served on the Advisory Board of REN21 for their Renewables in Cities Global Status Report. Prior to joining GMF, Irene worked as policy officer at the World Future Council in Hamburg, where she advised policymakers on the transition to 100% renewable energy. Before that Irene was at ESADEgeo Barcelona and served as research analyst and speechwriter to Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and as a research analyst working on research projects for The Brookings Institute and the Barcelona Metropolitan Region. Irene holds a MS in Urban Affairs from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and a MA in International Relations from the Barcelona Institute of International Studies. She speaks Spanish, English and French. Irene is based in Berlin.

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Simone Mangili

Executive Director

Having worked widely in the US, Europe and the Middle East on a broad range of initiatives aimed at securing just and sustainable futures, Simone brings over 20 years of international experience in the local government and non-profit sectors working with cities, stakeholders and communities on climate change and other urban sustainability issues with a strong commitment to embedding social equity in policy development and implementation. In addition to his professional experience Simone has served as traveling faculty in World Learning’s Cities in the 21st Century study abroad program, developed World Learning’s Rethinking Food Security program and is an external lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Turin in territorial and environmental planning. Simone holds a Bachelor degree in Community, Regional and Environmental Studies from Bard College and a Master in Regional Planning from Cornell University.

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Tracy Morgenstern

Director of Climate Justice

Tracy Morgenstern is the Director of Climate Justice for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance where she leads efforts to advance the vision and goals established in the CNCA Climate Justice Statement through the Alliance’s programming. Prior to joining CNCA, she worked for the City of Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment for twenty years, most recently as the Climate Protection Program Manager where she worked increasingly at the nexus of climate mitigation, adaptation, and equity. She has a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies.

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