Urban Innovator
Henry Cisneros: Biography at a Glance
- Co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Immigration Task Force and Urban Innovator, Henry Cisneros is a testament to American leadership, diversity, and community building.
- A former HUD secretary and Mayor of San Antonio, his vision of a strong, resilient society starts with access to affordable housing—regardless of race and class.
- On stage, Cisneros draws from his career in public office and private sector to discuss effective leadership, the business case for diversity and inclusion in America, and the future of urban infrastructure, innovation, and sustainability.
Media
Biography
Co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Immigration Task Force and Urban Innovator Henry Cisneros is a testament to American leadership, diversity, and community building. A former HUD secretary and Mayor of San Antonio, his vision of a strong, resilient society starts with access to affordable housing—regardless of race and class.
Onstage, Cisneros draws from his career in public office and private sector to discuss effective leadership, the business case for diversity and inclusion in America, and the future of urban infrastructure, innovation, and sustainability.
As co-chair of the BPC’s Immigration Task Force, Cisneros considers all aspects of immigration reform and encourages dialogue among interest groups and decision-makers. He co-founded American Sunrise which serves to revitalize neighborhoods by providing educational and economic opportunities for working families.
In 2015, he became one of the new owners of New York-based public finance firm Siebert, Cisneros, Shank & Co. LLC. He also founded CityView, an investment firm focused on urban real estate, in-city housing, and metropolitan infrastructure. As Executive Chairman, Cisneros is committed to innovative urban solutions, efficient land use, and housing affordability. He is also Chairman of American Triple I which invests private capital in the nations’ urban infrastructure.
As Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Clinton Administration, Cisneros initiated the revitalization of many of the nation's public housing developments, renovating 250 of the worst public housing units and demolishing another 43,000 vacant ones for reconstruction. He is credited with policies that helped establish a record homeownership rate for the U.S.
Cisneros first came to national prominence when he was elected mayor of San Antonio, becoming one of the first Hispanic Americans to run a major city. During his four terms, he rebuilt the city’s economy by increasing tourism, attracting high-technology firms, and creating tens of thousands of jobs. He served as the President of the National League of Cities and was named one of the nation’s 15 best mayors of the century by The American Mayor.
He has authored, edited, and collaborated on a number of books, including Latinos and the Nation’s Future, Interwoven Destinies and Building Equitable Cities: How to Drive Economic Mobility and Regional Growth. A recipient of the Habitat for Humanity Visionary Award, Cisneros was inducted into the National Association of Homebuilders’ “Builders Hall of Fame.”
The former President of Univision and the co-founder of the New American Alliance, Cisneros has served on the advisory boards of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
He has a Doctorate in Public Administration from The George Washington University, holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M university where he is a distinguished alumnus. He holds honorary degrees from 20 leading American Universities.
Topics
An Urban Nation: How Infrastructure & Sustainability Will Safeguard America
Sixty-five percent of Americans live in just 100 metropolitan areas, which produce 75% of the gross domestic product. Key functions of national prosperity occur in metropolitan areas, including the shipping of goods that support global trade and research at urban universities that generate technological and medical breakthroughs.
Given today’s economic and social climate, the nation’s future depends on recalibrating urban and metropolitan strategies to focus investments in infrastructure, sustainability, and human capital.
In this speech, urban innovator Henry Cisneros discusses how the strategic development of infrastructure and metropolitan areas foster research breakthroughs, attract entrepreneurial energies, and addresses environmental and energy challenges. Cisneros will outline how applying smart growth strategies can usher in a new global economy making the country more attractive and socially cohesive and enhancing the population’s quality of life.
The Essentials of Successful Leadership for the 21st Century
The tectonic plates undergirding our society are shifting rapidly. The significant changes are generational, multicultural, technological, environmental, and economic. They require new ways of exercising leadership in the key institutions of our society: business, governmental, religious, educational, and civic. A former mayor and HUD secretary, Henry Cisneros delivers the tenets of leadership: inclusive, respect for diversity, consultative, a shared vision of progress, flexible, and responsive.
American Latinos & The Nation’s Future
In today’s world, immigrants represent a higher proportion of the nation’s population than at any time since the early 1900s. Their contributions are not only substantial but essential to a strong American future.
Latinos, in particular, are the nation’s fastest-growing segment of the population, the largest minority group, the youngest segment of the population, and the most rapidly increasing proportion of the middle class. A largely marginalized part of the population, Latinos are vital to the workforce and to our economic prosperity.
In this speech, Henry Cisneros explains how essential the Latino trajectory of progress is to the nation’s future, and how our ability to develop strategies to fully integrate Latinos into the mainstream of American life will determine our economic competitiveness and our social stability.