Biography
Victor Pineda
President and Chair, The Victor Pineda Foundation; Executive Director, Center for Independent Living, Inc.; Board Member, RespectAbility; Council Member of Global Future Council on the Connected World, WEF
Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda is a seasoned executive, board member, impact investor, philanthropist, author, and policymaker. He is a globally recognized human rights expert and a leading scholar on governance and urban transformation. He is a two-time presidential appointee and serves as the President and Chairman of The Victor Pineda Foundation / World ENABLED. Through his humanitarian and philanthropic initiatives, he has conceptualized and executed transformative projects advancing inclusion in organizations and communities around the world.
Dr. Pineda is a senior advisor to governments, fortune 500 companies, UN Agencies, and International Organizations such as the World Bank, the G20/U20, the InterAmerican Development Bank, UNICEF, UN-Habitat. His work focuses on technology governance, resilience, and sustainable development.
Early in his career, he helped negotiate international agreements including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the inclusion targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He led and supported the implementation of a range of local and national regulatory frameworks such as the Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s Disability Strategies, Ecuador’s National Mobility Plan, and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act requiring federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain and use information and communications technology (ICT) that are accessible to people with disabilities.
His best-selling book, “Building the Inclusive City: Governance, Access and the Urban Transformation of Dubai” has won awards for its path-breaking research. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities of Tomorrow, the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Connected World, and the US Federal Access Board. He is a Senior Fellow at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai and directs the Inclusive Cities Lab at the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at the University of California Berkeley. He founded the Cities For All Global Compact and Campaign for Inclusive and Accessible Cities and the GAP-PWD Partner Constituent Group.
Dr. Pineda holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA’s Luskin School for Public Affairs, a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning, a BA in Political Economy, and a BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.
