Advancing Global Partnerships:
The Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations and Phoenix Sister Cities are pleased to present a program with the Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib and Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego. Through this global conversation, the Mayors will explore common issues and priorities for their respective cities, including sustainability and Smart Cities, inclusivity and equity, and economic development.
Mayors Hřib and Gallego lead large and growing cities; one the capital of a nation in the heart of Europe; the other the capital of the fastest growing city in the American West. In 2019, Mayor Hřib was the first member of the Pirate Party in Europe to be elected mayor of a large 1st tier city. Also in 2019, Mayor Gallego was the youngest mayor elected to run a large 1st tier city in the United States.
The Pirate Party was founded in Sweden in 2006. It spread throughout Europe, coming to the Czech Republic in 2009. There are now 22 members of the Pirate Party in the Czech Chamber of Deputies and 3 members in the Czech Senate. Currently, the Czech Pirate Party – in coalition with The Mayors and Independents Party – is leading in the polls for the upcoming general election which will take place in October this year.
Registration
FREE for PCFR Members
$10 for Non-Members
Schedule
Thursday, May 13, 2021
10:00 am - 11:00 am Phoenix
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Prague
Venue
Zoom Meeting
The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.
Speakers
Mayor Kate Gallego
City of Phoenix
Kate Gallego has a vision for Phoenix: she sees it as a place that is vibrant and growing, and one where every person is treated with dignity and respect.
Mayor Gallego is a strong advocate for smart business growth and investment – she recently helped land the city’s largest-ever business development deal, which, at $12 billion, is also the largest foreign direct investment in the state’s history. She is leading the city to global status as a leader in bioscience, scientific research and advanced medical manufacturing. Under her leadership, the city has also made dramatic advances in transit and street transportation; equitable treatment of the city’s residents; and mitigation of the effects of climate change. Throughout 2020 and 2021, an immense amount of her focus has been on leading Phoenix through the COVID-19 crisis.
Mayor Gallego is the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city Mayors in the United States. In November 2020, she was returned to office with the highest number of votes ever cast for a mayoral candidate in Phoenix.
A graduate of Harvard University, she earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2013, representing south Phoenix. Prior professional pursuits include strategic planning and economic development for one of Arizona’s largest utility companies and service in state government, including the Office of the Governor.
Mayor Kate Gallego enjoys a desert hike and a good read. She is Mom to four-year-old Michael.
Mayor Zdeněk Hřib
City of Prague
Zdeněk Hřib has been the Mayor of Prague since 2018, the first Mayor both in the Czech Republic and worldwide to have been nominated by the Pirate Party.
In 2006, Zdeněk graduated in General Medicine from Charles University. During his studies, he worked as an intern at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. After graduation, Zdeněk worked for several organizations as a healthcare IT specialist and consultant. In 2008, Zdeněk received an internship in the National Patient Safety Agency in London.
Zdeněk has been active in the Pirate Party since 2013. Zdeněk helped to formulate the Pirates Party position on some healthcare topics, such as mandatory vaccinations, anti-smoking law, ePrescriptions and patient privacy. He was also one of the authors of the Pirate Party´s election program for healthcare for the 2017 Chamber of Deputies elections and provided consultancy to candidates and deputies in the field of healthcare.
Moderator
Akram Rosheidat
Phoenix Sister Cities
Prague Committee Chair
Akram Rosheidat completed his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2014, and worked as an Associate Faculty teaching at the ASU School of Sustainability from 2015 to 2018. He is a practicing architect and an Owner at MRT Design LLC in Phoenix, Arizona.
After starting his university studies in Prague, Czech Republic, Akram received his Bachelor in Architecture from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and his Masters in Architecture from the University of Arizona in Tucson. His research focused on outdoor thermal comfort in hot arid environments. In both his practice and academic research, Akram's focus is on sustainable green building design and technology, energy conservation and studying systems for assessing thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. He designed LEED certified sustainable projects, and worked on USAID projects internationally.
