Meet your New Neighbours: Why Cities Need More Help for Migration and Climate Crises

GDP - The Global Development Primer

Mass migration and climate change are urban crises. The lack of preparedness of cities around the world to handle climate adaptation is lagging. What's more the current and future stresses on mass migration due to climate and conflict will impact cities the most...and in particular a handful of cities in the global South. How can cities be better prepared for what lies ahead? Vittoria Zanuso has a plan. Empower cities with the resources and expertise necessary to get the job done. She has assembled a global coalition of more than 200 mayors who are willing to step up the challenges that are looming on the horizon.

Vittoria Zanuso is the Executive Director of the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), a global coalition of 200+ mayors working to accelerate action on migration and displacement. As MMC chief executive, Vittoria built the MMC startup from concept incubated by the Open Society Foundations and Swiss Government to a successful nonprofit organization, raising over US$20+ million and growing the funder base from two to 12 donors; working with Leadership Board mayors to facilitate organizational oversight and strategic input; recruiting, overseeing, and developing a team of 10+ full-time employees; and representing the MMC in multilateral fora, such as the UN General Assembly, and in external governing bodies, including the Steering Committee of UN Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund. Vittoria has positioned mayors worldwide as influential players in emerging policy frontiers — from climate migration to municipal finance. Her impact and thought leadership has been recognized in high-profile outlets, such as Time, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Bloomberg, Inside Philanthropy. Prior to the MMC, Vittoria held several positions at the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative (100RC). As a founding staff member of 100RC, Vittoria helped establish a network of 100 cities from the ground up and created the organization’s urban migration practice. Vittoriabegan her career in the field of strategic communications, first at the Spokesperson’s Office of the Vice-President of the European Commission in Brussels and then on the Communications team of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Originally from Milan, Italy, Vittoria holds an MPA in International Policy and Management from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a BA in Politics from Queen Mary University of London.

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