100 RC announces Omran as African managing director

Dana Omran will oversee the African Portfolio for 100 Resilient Cities, a project pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC).

With more than a decade of experience in urban planning and resilience, Omran will be a critical part of 100RC’s efforts to advance a regional focus on resilience and implement initiatives that build more inclusive, resilient cities across the Continent, with Lagos, Johannesbourgh, Cairo, among others in focus.

100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) helps cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. 100RC provides this assistance through: funding for a Chief Resilience Officer in each member city who will lead the resilience efforts; resources for drafting a resilience strategy; access to private sector, public sector, academic, and NGO resilience tools; and membership in a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges.

Announcing this last week,   President of 100 Resilient Cities Michael Berkowitz, the selection of Dana Omran for the role of Managing Director, Africa, was as a result of her experience in the strategic discipline.

“Cities stand at the forefront of 21st-Century challenges and opportunities. More than 50 percent of the world’s population currently lives in cities, and that number is expected to rise to 70 percent by 2050. Africa alone is forecast to urbanize at a rate of 3.65 percent annually, adding one billion more residents to the continent’s cities by 2063.

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“With this rapid urbanization in mind, in addition to other global pressures that play out at a city scale, 100Resilient Cities has progressively grown its presence in Africa since the program’s launch in 2013. 100RC’s work in the region is underpinned by a vision that 10 African cities will serve as models for inclusive, equitable, and resilient urbanization for the rest of the continent and beyond.

The new managing director, Dana Omran, noted that some of the fastest rates of urbanization over the next 30 years are expected to take place in Sub-Saharan Africa, a figure that represents an enormous opportunity to infuse resilience thinking in urban centers small and large across the continent.

“From informal development to water insecurity, waste management to unemployment, applying an urban resilience lens has been proven to yield multiple benefits through singular but holistic interventions.”she said.

“During her tenure at 100 Resilient Cities, Dana has demonstrated exceptional leadership, decision-making ability, and both global and regional acumen,” said Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities, who said people are excited to see the great potential of the Africa region unfurl under her leadership, and expect to welcome a new cohort of both skilled Chief Resilience Officers and actionable City Resilience Strategies over the coming year.

Until recently, Omran served as Associate Director, City and Practice Management at 100RC, overseeing the strategy development process in North and East Africa, and Paris, France. In her new role, Omran will lead the organization’s strategic vision in the region, and spearhead a new wave of action in the 100RC African portfolio.