Dr. Vijay Jagannathan comes from the World Bank where he was Sector Manager for infrastructure in the East Asia and Pacific region. He was responsible for an annual lending program of about $5 billion in the urban, water, transport and energy sectors. Dr. Jagannathan has been also associated with the APEC-led green growth and green finance initiatives. He has worked in the infrastructure, environment and urban development sectors in his twenty four years in the Bank. Prior to that he spent 10 years in Indian Administrative Service. He is an economist by training, with a PhD from Boston University. His dissertation on the informal markets for the poor was published by Oxford University Press in 1987 and recognized as one of the “Outstanding Academic Books of the Year” by the American Library Association. He has published extensively on water, urban development, agricultural development and environmental issues. Dr. Jagannathan currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, and has been a consultant with the Green Climate Fund. He is a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group for Urban Issues, and is working closely with the New Climate Economy initiative. He is advising the China Council for International Cooperation on Climate and Development (CCICED) in its Special Policy Study on “Good City Models under the Concept of Ecological Civilization.” In 2023, Dr. Jagannathan was appointed to the Advisory Board on Zero Waste by the Secretary General of the UN. He was elected as Secretary General of CityNet at the 2013 CityNet Seoul Congress. 

Aisa Tobing is a City Planner and Senior Advisor to the Governor of Jakarta. She serves as the Chairman of the Climate Change Task Force for Jakarta and as an Expert Staff for Urban and Environmental Management. Ms. Tobing has worked for Jakarta Capital City Government since 1977. During this time, she was appointed to lead several agencies within the administration, including serving as the Director of the International Cooperation Bureau, the Director of Information Technology and Communications Management Office, as well as Head of the Environmental Management Division. Ms. Tobing received her Bachelor’s degree in City Planning from Bandung Institute of Technology and her Masters from University of Pennsylvania. A strong supporter of sustainable urban development, Ms. Tobing currently serves as the Deputy Secretary General of CityNet.

Jeong-kee Kim is the Chief Executive Officer & Under-Secretary-General who is responsible for overseeing the overall institutional and programme activities of the organization. Just before he joined CityNet in March 2022, Mr. Kim worked as a distinguished chair professor at the Business School of Dongguk University. In 2000, he was elected as the first president of Soongsil Cyber University, the internet-based university founded by Yonsei University and Chosun Daily. In 2008, he was appointed as the 8th Consul General of the Korean Consulate General in Shanghai (Ambassador Rank) and as the Commissioner General of the Korean Pavilion of Shanghai Expo. In 2010, he was nominated as the first deputy minister of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2012 to 2020, he acted as a senior attorney-at-law in DR-Aju LLC and at the same time, he taught courses on law, political science, history, sociology, economics, business administration, future studies, and negotiation in various universities across Korea. Mr. Kim graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1990, and received his doctor of jurisprudence from Marquette University Law School in 2000. He can be reached at ceo@citynet-ap.org.

Youngmin Chang is the Director of Programs and develops overall programs at CityNet along with the institutional strategy to engage businesses, community groups, and multilateral institutions as strategic partners in identifying practical solutions for sustainable cities. Before she joined CityNet, she had worked for ten years as the Associate Director of a non-profit organization, International Action, in Washington, D.C., which she co-founded and serves as a board member. She was honored to be selected as one of the 40 Under 40 professionals on urban land use by the Urban Land Institute in 2014. She sits on Cities Development Initiative for Asia Stakeholders Forum Expert Group and has led CityNet to be elected to be an Operation Committee Member of Development Alliance Korea. She received her Master’s in International Relations from the University of Virginia. She can be reached at ychang@citynet-ap.org.

Prior to working in CityNet, Jaime Paulo Mora spent ten years working in a national local government association based in Manila, Philippines. He held various supervisory positions in both regular and foreign-assisted programs and projects that focused on urban development. Some of these include public procurement, disaster risk and resilience, local health development and localizing Millennium Development Goals/Sustainable Development Goals. He graduated with a journalism degree at the University of Santo Tomas. Mr. Mora has a professional background in development communications, public advocacy, local governance, and urban sociology. In the Citynet, among other tasks, he manages the Citynet Services Program and provides membership services to Philippines and Fiji Citynet members. He can be reached at programs2@citynet-ap.org.

Hui Qian has a background of Sustainability Science and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Compilation. She obtained a Master of Science in International Cooperation Policy from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan) and a Master of Engineering in International Material Flow Management from Hochschule Trier (Germany). She is experienced in working under a multicultural environment with multidisciplinary cooperation. Prior to joining CityNet, she had worked at ICLEI East Asia Secretariat, with a focus on city-scale researches and projects. At CityNet, she supports to implement various capacity building projects and coordinate with members and partners in China. You are more than welcome to reach her at coordinator1@citynet-ap.org (Languages: Chinese, English and Japanese).

Chris Di Gennaro is keenly interested in the workings of cities and facilitating sustainable urban development. Previously, he worked at United Nations ESCAP to organize an urban innovation themed startup competition. He holds a Master of Korean Studies from Yonsei University and a Bachelor of Psychology from Vassar College. At CityNet, he is managing the Urban SDG Knowledge Platform, a joint project with ESCAP and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He can be reached at sdgplatform@citynet-ap.org.

Bohyun Kim has worked for facilitating formal and informal diplomacy through people-to-people exchanges. Before joining CityNet, he organised various diplomatic events from small-sized officials’ meetings and youth MUN conferences to large-scale peace forums, working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of ROK, Asia Exchange Association and Jeju Forum Secretariat. At CityNet, he is responsible for the overall coordination and operation for key legislative meetings of the Network. Mr Kim received his Master’s in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and graduated from Kyung Hee University for his BA with a double major in Journalism & Communications and Political Science & International Relations. He can be reached at programs3@citynet-ap.org.

Erin Um is a Junior Program Officer at CityNet, where she manages partners and related projects, publications, and communications. She is interested in working with city and corporate partners for collaborative opportunities. Prior to working at CityNet, she worked at a humanitarian non-profit organization. She obtained a BA with a double major in Economics and International Relations. She can be reached at programs1@citynet-ap.org.

Eunhee Lee has been working for the Seoul Metropolitan Government since 2008. Ms. Lee was dispatched to CityNet as Director of Operations in July 2023. She can be reached at dir.operations@citynet-ap.org.

Hojeong Jang has been working for Seoul Metropolitan Government since 2010 and was dispatched to CityNet as Senior Operations Officer in July 2023. She can be reached at operations@citynet-ap.org.

Aruna Zhanibek obtained a Master of International trade and finance from Dongguk University, and graduated from the Kazakh National University for her BA with a major in Korean Studies. Prior to joining CityNet, she worked at Kazakhstan embassy where she coordinated diplomatic corps meetings, organized financial documents and engaged in translation work. She also worked at Woori Bank (headquarter, International Trade Business Department) and at the Korea Tourism Organization (Almaty branch, Kazakhstan). At CityNet, she is responsible for members management and operational work of the secretariat. She can be reached at membership@citynet-ap.org.