The City of Vancouver now has a Chief Resilience Officer.

The new role has been funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to oversee the city’s strategy around withstanding major shocks and stresses to Vancouver.

The new Chief Resilience Officer, Katie McPherson, will have more than $1 million in funds and support from the non-profit, 100 Resilient Cities, to put toward infrastructure, sustainability, and housing.

The non-profit aims to help cities plan for natural disasters like earthquakes and work on long-term planning issues like sustainability and transit.

100 Resilient Cities gives its cities access to 100 partners that can help cities with diagnostic analysis, risk and hazard assessment, financial analysis, data management, social services, and more, according to the non-profit.

Other issues the city is aiming to address in the strategy include social inequality, earthquake preparedness, and climate change challenges like sea-level rise.

Chief Resilience Officer Katie McPherson says, “In an era of global uncertainty, climate change, and growing local pressures, this is an important opportunity for our city. Our people are our biggest asset, and we’re looking forward to partnering with and learning from a broad range of stakeholders. This opportunity will allow us to elevate and share the incredible work already happening across our community, and to achieve big pieces of work that we can’t do alone.”

Last modified: April 4, 2017

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