Eugene Zapata Garesché

Eugene Zapata Garesché is Global Director, Partnerships Latin America and the Caribbean for the Resilient Cities Network. Before joining R-Cities he was International Advisor to the Mayor of Mexico City. In this capacity he headed the AL-LAs project, a Europe-Latin America network of cities working to professionalize their international affairs. He was also Latin American Regional Director for the World Fund for City Development (FMDV) as well as North American Secretary of METROPOLIS, the world association of the largest cities.

He has extensive experience in city-to-city cooperation, decentralization, and local government. He has authored dozens of books and articles and lectured on the topic of the international affairs of cities and mayors.

Eugene studied International Relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and holds a master’s degree in European Integration from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a master’s degree in International Development and Cooperation from Paris-Sorbonne University.

In 2013, Eugene was chosen by CAF, the Latin American Development Bank, as one of the 30 Future Leaders in the region. In 2015, the French Republic granted Eugene the title of Knight of the National Order of Merit, in recognition of his outstanding career in building bridges across nations.