David Adam – Managing Director

David has a background in international relations, policy development and city-marketing leading him to establish Global Cities in 2009. David held roles such as Head of Emerging Markets at the London Development Agency and led on positioning London in the key markets of China, India, Russia and South America. He spearheaded Mayor Livingstone’s branding and market activation initiatives in India in 2007 and - with Mayor Johnson’s administration - was responsible for London House: London’s brand platform during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  “We’re passionate about working with places to help them achieve their goals and ambitions on the global stage and to ensure that cities can win from globalisation”

Neil Robinson – Creative Director

Neil is a media and communications specialist with over 25 years experience in senior media positions within the UK, but also in communications advisory roles for high-level clients and complex projects such as Liverpool European Capital of Culture, the London Olympics and London‘s International Promotion. Neil applies his journalist know-how to city-marketing – he knows what makes a good story and how to think creatively in building strong stories and campaigns that have lasting impact. Neil says that when it comes to cities “perceptions are so often out-of-date but in today’s increasingly integrated communications environment it is now possible more than ever before to shift people’s thinking across the world”

Michael Owens – Strategy Director

Michael is a leading place-making specialist and a regeneration expert. He has led several flagship regeneration projects across the UK in a number of senior public roles, and his advice is regularly sought on complex regeneration projects by national, regional and local policymakers.  Michael is a regular speaker, writer and commentator on city development. Michael’s wealth of experience in working with transitional economies ensures that Global Cities brings the most strategic approach to managing change and creating effective outcomes for the places we work with.

From 1998, Michael worked, first as Chief Executive of Leaside Regeneration, and second as Head of Development Policy at the London Development Agency, on the regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley and the Thames Gateway. Together, these form London’s major growth areas. Michael led the strategy and programmes to consolidate and restructure areas that had experienced the decline of old dock related industries, and bring forward new economic activity based on London’s dynamic economic sectors.

Michael is a big thinker, both strategically and conceptually adept; he is also intuitive ensuring that he knows how to drive grand place-making strategies which work for people.

Michael serves on the Editorial Board of the journal ‘Local Economy’.

Emma Lewis – Account Director

Emma is a strategic communications specialist experienced in delivering marketing solutions for places. She’s created a number of innovative communications solutions to support complex, multi-sectoral projects, from masterplanning and large-scale infrastructure to royal visits, international PR and community engagement. Recent projects include writing the marketing plan for London’s 2012 cultural offer, running London’s 2011 Join Me on the Bridge media event and London’s marketing efforts for the ‘1-year-to-go’ to the Olympics. Emma knows the business of brand implementation and management, having managed several high-profile city-marketing initiatives on behalf of London. Emma is a member of the Notting Hill Carnival Advisory Board.

Tom Travers – Associate Consultant

Tom brings direct personal experience and knowledge of 4 Olympic Host Cities and has expert knowledge of best practice delivery in multiple international and domestic sporting and cultural events, such as the Manchester Commonwealth Games and Beijing 2008.

He has over eight years of experience in London devising and delivering innovative projects linked to the 2012 Games, including city-wide volunteering, community sports participation, business brokerage, employment and skills support, and city contingency planning.

Building upon his intimate knowledge of London’s complex political and administrative structures, Tom has successfully delivered several high-profile Olympic-related programmes and projects building partnerships across borough boundaries on behalf of the Mayor of London. He has a proven track record in devising and ensuring delivery in many complex award winning projects, including CompeteFor, Personal Best and London Ambassadors.  In each instance these have been designed to create solutions that make a difference to people’s lives whilst securing a positive legacy from major events

Tom is confident and expert operating in complex political environments, and one of his greatest strengths is in securing consensus and delivering in partnership

Meg Kaufmann – Associate Consultant

Meg is an urban regeneration professional with project management and policy development experience gained in the UK and the US. Specialising in developing partnerships between private and public sector, she helped establish London’s Private Investment Commission, and as project manager for the London/New York Dialogue since its inception in 2000, she has managed high level roundtables between politicians, academics, and businesspeople from both cities, researching and developing common agendas for discussion, as well as raising sponsorship for the project. Meg has considerable expertise and understanding of BIDs, having established the London BIDs partnership at the LDA and continuing to advise Park Royal Partnership on strategic, procedural, and legal aspects of establishing a business improvement district.

Juan Carlos Belloso – Barcelona

International Place Strategy, Branding and Promotion Expert, Juan Carlos Belloso advices cities, regions and nations on Place Strategy, Branding, International Relations, International Promotion, Cultural and Public Diplomacy in order to help them better compete in an increasingly competitive and global world. With extensive experience working with corporations and places at an international level, Juan Carlos is also a frequent speaker and writter on Place Branding and Pomotion, having contributed to some books and publications including the recently published book by Prof. Keith Dinnie, ‘City Branding: Theory and Cases’. Advisor to the Barcelona Brand Project and to the Barcelona Strategic Metropolitan Plan, Juan Carlos is also a founding member of ‘Barcelona Global Association’, a private partnership formed by a group of business people, experts and entrepreneurs with the objective of tie links between society and the city, promoting the cross relations and improving the positioning and the influence of Barcelona in the word system of cities.
http://jcbelloso.blogspot.com/

Greg Clark – London

Greg Clark is a thought leader and event leader on development and investment strategies. He works with city, regional, and national governments and with universities, corporations, and financial institutions. He is author of more than 10 books and has advised companies and cities in 4 continents. Greg Clark is a conference speaker on city building, investment, and strategies for globalisation, working with city and business leaders on the challenges and opportunities of the global urban age. His current roles include:

• Chairman of the OECD Forum of Development Agencies and Investment Strategies, and former Chairman of the OECD Forum of Cities and Regions
• Senior Fellow, ULI Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India.
• Global City Advisor, Cap Gemini.
• Chairman, British Business Improvement Districts,
• Visiting Professor in City Leadership at Cass Business School, City of London,
• Trusted Advisor to global cities/regions and global companies world-wide.
• Writer, commentator, presenter, speaker, moderator, front man.

www.gregclark.com

Jin Huang – Shanghai

A director of Inhere Public Relations，James Huang currently works with Sinohydro as a senior advisor.  Having worked as executive of several global consulting firms, he is a specialist and trainer in public affairs, corporate and marketing communications and media relations.
A diplomat for nine years, including five years as press officer and assistant to spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, James entered the private sector in early 90s and started his agency career with Fleishman-Hillard Link (FHL) Beijing in early 1998 as Vice President, and later Deputy General Manager and concurrently Chief Representative of FHL Shanghai office.  In late 2001, he became Deputy General Manager of Ketchum Newscan, a sister company of Fleishman-Hillard under the Omnicom Group. He became senior consultant of Inhere Public Relations in early 2005 and had worked as executive president till March 2008. While serving in the above-mentioned capacity, he is also on the board of several consulting firms and institutions.

Markus Appenzeller – Amsterdam

Markus is Director International Projects at KCAP Architects & Planners, he has worked on major infrastructure and archtitectural projects all around the world, specialising in large scale urban design and masterplanning with specific experience and expertise in the UK, China, Latvia, Russia, USA, Netherlands, Germany

Satish Mishra – Jakarta

Prior to heading Strategic Asia, Satish Mishra conceptualised and managed the United Nations Support Facility for Indonesian Recovery (UNSFIR) project funded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). His other professional experience includes high-level assignments at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), including leading the first OECD Mission to Indonesia during the Asian crisis, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank in over 40 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Satish Mishra has a wide range of experience in managing large inter-disciplinary teams of professionals in difficult economic and political environments. He studied Economics and Politics at Oxford University and has a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Shoba Purushothaman – Mumbai

Shoba has spent over 20 years in the global media industry and is now focused on her third enterprise, a portfolio of skills training businesses based in India called Training Ventures India.Shoba spent the first 9 years of her career as a journalist, including at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in Washington D.C., New York and London.  In 1994 Shoba established her first business, a PR agency, was successfully acquired in 2001 and is now part of the WPP Group. Shoba was responsible for the agency’s Asia expansion that included three regional offices that serviced some of Asia’s most prominent government agencies and corporations.

Shoba’s next business was a web-based video distribution platform The NewsMarket that was launched at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. She served as CEO until 2009.

Shoba is on the Advisory Board of Columbia University’s Strategic Communication program in New York and advisor to the non-profit Lend-A-Hand-India as well as several start-ups.

Shoba is a graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia (B.A.) and holds a Master of Economic Communication from the American University in Washington, D.C. She is also a graduate of the Owner-President Management program at Harvard Business School (2000).