Mauricio Rodas

After 5 years of intense work, both locally and globally, Mauricio Rodas will finish his term as mayor in May 2019, having projected Quito towards the future and fostered the cities movement's influence in the global arena.

Quito's transportation system includes gender policies that promote a safer environment for all. A particularly successful program is “Turn Down Harassment”, aimed at fighting sexual harassment in the public transportation system, through reports via SMS text messages and the activation of alarms in buses. The World Economic Forum recognized this program as one of the top 20 global social innovations in 2017

In 2017, during the One Planet Summit organized by President Emmanuelle Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, Mayor Rodas launched a global Call to Action to redesign the international financing architecture and channel resources into cities for an effective climate change fight. Mayor Rodas has played a major leadership international role. He is currently World Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments Organization (UCLG) and member of the World boards of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

In 2016 Mayor Rodas launched the light festival in the Historic District. Heritage buildings and public spaces served as gigantic canvases for this magical show. The light festival boosted domestic and international tourism. Last year, during its third edition, this celebration attracted more than 3.2 million people, becoming the second largest festival of light in the World.

On May 14, 2014, he was appointed Mayor of Quito, after winning the elections against the incumbent candidate, becoming the youngest mayor in the history of the city.

Mayor Rodas was the hosting mayor of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat lll, the largest UN conference in history, making Quito the gathering point for hundreds of mayors and the center for discussion of the most relevant urban issues. On the climate change arena, he has fostered avant-garde regulations regarding the reduction of single use plastics, the preservation of natural protected areas, and incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles.

In 2011, he returned to Ecuador and began his political career. He is the founder and president of Movimiento Sociedad Unida Más Acción (SUMA), a national political party. He ran for president of Ecuador in the 2013 general elections, obtaining the fourth place among eight candidates, becoming the surprise of the election.

He began his professional carrier at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago de Chile, where he published works on sustainable development in Latin America. Later, he founded DS Consultores, a public policy consulting firm based in Mexico City, through which he advised different Federal Government ministries in Mexico, as well as state and local governments in that country. In 2007, Dr. Rodas founded the Mexico-based Fundacion Ethos, a public policy Think Tank focus in social policies for Latin America. Since 2008, Dr. Rodas promotes a political concept called "Responsible Government Model", an innovative and modern vision that seeks to go beyond the traditional left-right wing divide to foster prosperity based on responsible policies.

Mauricio Esteban Rodas Espinel (born 15 April 1975) is a lawyer and right-wing politician (SUMA party) who served as the Mayor of Quito between May 2014 and May 2019.

Born in Quito on April 15, 1975, he is married and father of four children. He is a Doctor in Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito. Thanks to a Fulbright fellowship and a scholarship from de Organization of American States (OAS), he earned two master's degrees at the University of Pennsylvania in Government Administration and Political Science.