Mauricio Rodas served as the Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, from 2014 to 2019. During his tenure, he successfully led the construction of the country's first Metro line and implemented numerous initiatives to promote urban sustainability, social equity, and economic development. He hosted the UN Conference on Urban Sustainable Development – Habitat III, and held prominent international positions in the main city networks, such as World Co-President of UCLG, Vice-Chair of C40 Cities, and board member of the Global Covenant of Mayors and ICLEI.

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, the Executive Committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors, and the Advisory Network of Urban Partners.

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 co-founder and partner of Meridio Consulting, an urban sustainable development and climate finance consultancy, he has worked with cities such as Athens, Barranquilla, Dhaka, Freetown, Miami, Melbourne, Monterrey, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, and Seville. In 2020, he was part of the PwC team advising the Riyadh’s Urban 20 Chairmanship, and in 2023 - 2024, he worked as an Advisor for the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

Mauricio’s 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, and the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. He is also an Expert Contributor to the Earthshot Prize.

Mauricio is a former Young Global Leader and 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 in Mexico with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and later served as a consultant on sustainable development for the federal and state governments.

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).