Can you imagine all those attending the Parks Congress in the same room? This is a moment that no one should miss! During the keynote conferences we will have experts in urban parks and public spaces; they will talk about their professional and personal experiences in addition to touching topics of common interest to our cities.

Héctor López Santillana

León, México

Alcalde - Municipality of León, Guanajuato

He is 62, of which 50 has lived and grown in the city of León, is "a green belly of heart." He has been married to Lula Solís for 40 years and has two children, Paola and Mauricio. He is also a grandfather of 4 children. At age 14 he began working in the family business, a fur finishing plant, which allowed him to know and relate to the footwear industry he served for 22 years. He graduated from the Lux Institute and studied at the Universidad del Bajío, now La Salle University, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Business Administration. He was a subject teacher for 18 years in several educational institutions, which has allowed him to be in communication with young people. He served as Secretary of Sustainable Economic Development for three state administrations, achieving the continuity that resulted in the consolidation of the most successful economic policy that is recorded in the state of Guanajuato. Novaera created the technology park system where innovative projects are incubated, and a great achievement is the construction of a network of industrial parks to receive new national and international companies. Héctor López was also Secretary of Government and Governor of the State, keeping Guanajuato with peace and tranquility during the electoral process of 2012. Before becoming a state official, he served as Director of Economic Development of the Municipality of León, where he started and promoted the organization of the International Balloon Festival, the Rally de México, also projected the Integral Transportation System, but mainly, with great vision He gave the economic direction to our city. Héctor López Santillana assumed the position of Municipal President of León on October 10, 2015 and managed to consolidate his continuity in the 2018 elections, being the first mayor of the municipality's consecutive election.

Mariela Alfonzo

Boston, Estados Unidos

Fundadora y Directora General - State of Place

Bridging the worlds of academia and practice, Dr. Alfonzo is the Founder of State of Place, an urban data analytics platform that helps placemakers identify and economically justify optimal urban design, planning, and development projects that create thriving places people love. She has also run Urban Imprint, an urban design-behavior research and consulting firm, for ten years, working with a range of private and public sector real estate stakeholders. Further, she's a Research Assistant Professor at New York University, where she's been examining the links between the built environment and health in rapidly urbanizing Chinese cities for nearly four years. An expert on the triple bottom line of urban design, Dr. Alfonzo focuses on how the relationship between the built environment and behavior impacts health, broadly defined to include physical, mental, social, community, environmental, and fiscal health, within the context of neighborhood revitalization. In the Fall of 2014, she was recognized as one of Urban Land Institute's 40 under 40 best young land use professionals around the globe. Additionally, Dr. Alfonzo was awarded a Fulbright to examine walkability in China in the Fall of 2013, where she focused on the socio-cultural and policy challenges to implementing walkable development. Dr. Alfonzo has a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning with an emphasis on Urban Design and Behavior, as well as a professional Masters in Urban Planning, from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Psychology from the University of Miami.

Miguel Treviño de Hoyos

San Pedro Garza García, México

Alcalde - Municipality of San Pedro Garza García

His passion for economics was born in the Tec de Monterrey, where he studied his degree. He completed a master's degree in Political Science from Columbia University and another in Economic Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In addition, he has served as a teacher at the government school of EGADE at the Tec de Monterrey and was coordinator of editorial projects of Grupo Reforma. He has written for the magazine NEXOS, Reforma, El Norte, Letras Libres and for the UNAM. He was an advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Development, where he followed up on the implementation of the North American Labor Cooperation Agreement (one of the agreements parallel to NAFTA). He also served as coordinator of advisors to the Ministry of Social Development and Director of Planning in the administration of Fernando Canales. As part of his civic work, he founded Grupo Oaxaca, a collective precursor of the Federal Transparency Law; He was also Director of the Civic Council, where he developed and promoted the accountability initiative "Mayor, how are we going?"; and participated as a citizen councilor of the National Council of Public Security. He is the founder of Risköp, a consulting firm in mitigation of risks in the operating environment in the mining, energy, bottling and commercial sectors. He has carried out projects in 20 states of Mexico, as well as in Colombia and Argentina. He is a proud employer generating jobs for Mexico.

Renán Barrera Concha

Mérida, México

Presidente Municipal - Mérida

Renán Alberto Barrera Concha was born on February 21, 1979 in Mérida, Yucatán. He has a Law Degree with a specialty in Public Administration. Graduated from the Universidad Anáhuac Mayab, he has completed several diplomas abroad on: Electoral Campaign Management, at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, Political Strategies and Electoral Campaigns, at George Washington University, in Washington, DC, United States, Public Management and Economy, in Santiago de Chile. During the municipal Administration 20017-2010 he served as Coordinator Councilor of the PAN bench. In 2010 he was elected as a Local Deputy for the IV District of Mérida. In 2012 he was elected as mayor of Mérida for the period 2012-2015. During his tenure, the city of Mérida was consolidated as one of the best cities to live in Mexico, due to its quality of life indexes and the qualification of public services. During this stage, he chaired the National Association of Mayors (ANAC) and from 2015 to 2017, he collaborated in the National Executive Committee of the National Action Party in the Coordination of Mayors. He was also president of the National Conference of Municipalities of Mexico (CONAMM) In 2018 he was elected for the second time as Municipal President for the 2018-2021 period. Since the beginning of his current administration, he has set the lines of action to achieve a creative, inclusive and innovative city that is a benchmark in terms of sustainable development in economic, urban, cultural, social and mobility aspects, with a more citizenship. participatory both in the decision and in the effort to become a better society. Currently, he is also Vice President of Liaison with the Federal Government of the ANAC National Executive Committee.

Mike Abbaté

Portland, Estados Unidos

Director General - Abbaté Designs

In his extensive career in both the private and public sectors, Mike Abbaté has had the honor of being the landscape architect on some of the Pacific Northwest's most iconic landscapes: Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Rainer National Park, Tanner Springs Park and other projects in Portland's Pearl District, the Oregon Zoo, Oregon State Parks and others. In his many years as the Director of Portland Parks & Recreation, Mike oversaw the planning, design, construction and maintenance of over 200 parks and natural areas, and over $75 million of new construction. He is also one of the two founding principals of one of the region's most notable landscape architecture firms, GreenWorks. Mike has received many awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects for his work. Now, Mike Abbaté has returned to his vocational first love: planning and designing beautiful outdoor environments and facilities for people that are good for the environment as well. Mike is a member of the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architecture, an honor bestowed to less than 5% of all practicing landscape architects. The author of Gardening Eden (published by Random House), he is driven by an ethos of our spiritual responsibility for ecological stewardship. Mike is Oregon Registered Landscape Architect #223, and is certified by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB). He has also been a LEED Accredited Professional since 2003. He recently became a Licensed Landscape Construction Professional.

Jack Kardys

Miami, Estados Unidos

Presidente de la Junta Directiva - Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department

Jack Kardys, the NRPA chair of the Board of Directors, recently retired as the director of the nationally accredited and Gold Medal award-winning Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department (MDPROS), one of the largest and most diverse park systems in the United States. A 38-year park professional, Jack has earned dozens of awards that recognize his extraordinary leadership and achievements. With Jack’s guidance, the MDPROS master plan established the blueprint for improving the quality of life in Miami through a system of great parks, public spaces, natural and cultural areas connected by great greenways, blueways, trails and complete streets. Jack is a resident of Key Largo, the past president of the Florida Recreation and Park Association, an associate with PROS Consulting and the President of J Kardys Strategies, LLC, developing and implementing innovative park and public realm strategies for building healthy and sustainable communities.