Curt Garrigan is Chief of the Sustainable Urban Development Section for the Environment and Development Division of UN-ESCAP. In this role, he contributes to ESCAP’s efforts to work with governments to localize the Sustainable Development Goals and promote sustainable urban development solutions in cities throughout the Asia Pacific region. Before joining ESCAP, he spent seven years with UN Environment Programme in Paris, France as Coordinator of the Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative and as Cities and Buildings Programme Manager. He led UNEP’s efforts to launch the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, which promotes building sector climate actions. He also coordinated a UNEP project assisting countries in Southeast Asia to develop Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). Prior to joining the UN system, Mr. Garrigan served more than 22 years in a number of operational and management roles for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennessee USA, including Deputy Mayor, Parks Director, and Infrastructure and Planning Coordinator of the city’s post-Flood Recovery Team.

Leilani is the Global Director of The Shift, an international movement to secure the right to housing and the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing (2014- 2020). The Shift was launched in 2017 with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Cities and Local Government and works with multi-level stakeholders around the world including with several city governments in North America and Europe.
Leilani’s work is animated by the principle that housing is a social good, not a commodity. She has helped develop global human rights standards on the right to housing, including through her topical reports on homelessness, the financialization of housing, informal settlements, rights- based housing strategies, and the first UN Guidelines for the implementation of the right to housing. She is the central character in the award-winning documentary PUSH regarding the financialization of housing, directed by the Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten. PUSH is screening around the world and to continue its momentum Leilani and Fredrik now co-host a podcast – PUSHBACK Talks - about finance, housing and human rights.

Dr. Marja Hoek-Smit, Founder and Director, International Housing Finance Program, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an Adjunct Professor in the Real Estate Department of the Wharton School. She teaches executive education programs in housing finance and housing market analysis. Marja is a frequent advisor to governments and private- and non-profit sector clients in Emerging Market and Developing Countries in the field of housing and housing finance policy, institutional and product development. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Habitat for Humanity Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Housing.
Marja is also the Executive Director of the Housing Finance Information Network—HOFINET—a global web portal that consolidates international housing finance information and statistical data for public use.

A champion of sustainable built environments, Prashant Kapoor, is a passionate advocate for sustainable solutions that align the interests of businesses, financial institutions, governments and civil society.

He is the entrepreneur who created EDGE to mainstream resource-efficient building growth in emerging markets. Prashant is currently leading the APEX Green Cities Program that supports cities to transition to low-carbon and resource-efficient growth pathways. As a part of the Program, he has developed the APEX online app that allows cities to map out different action plans and evaluate their cost, feasibility, and impact. Under his leadership, IFC has created a green buildings portfolio that totals more than $6 billion.

Before joining IFC, Prashant was a director at WSP consultants in London where he led the sustainability strategy and master planning business. He holds architecture degrees from Manipal Institute of Technology (India) and a master’s degree from Oxford Brooks University (UK).