Team Category: Leadership Team

Kate Wright

Kate Wright is Executive Director of Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of nearly 350 U.S. mayors — representing 48 states and over 60 million Americans — showing that cities across the country are committed to cleaner air, lower energy costs, and stronger local economies. She leads the network’s strategic direction, helping mayors deliver practical solutions that protect public health, reduce household costs, and advance opportunity in every community. Prior to joining Climate Mayors, Kate served as CEO of CivicWell (formerly the Local Government Commission), where she worked with city and county leaders for fifteen years spearheading environmental initiatives on climate resilience, clean mobility, sustainable water management, livable communities, renewable energy, and affordable housing.

Kate Gallego

Kate Gallego is the Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, the 5th largest city in the nation. In November 2020, she was returned to office by the highest number of votes ever cast for a mayoral candidate in Phoenix. Mayor Gallego is the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city Mayors in the United States. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Before being elected to Phoenix City Council, Mayor Gallego worked on Economic Development for local utility company, Salt River Project. Mayor Gallego has focused on three key policy areas during her time in office: diversifying the economy, strengthening infrastructure investment, and working to make Phoenix a leader in sustainability. The year 2020 saw a significant addition to that list: ensuring the public health is protected by adhering to the evolving science around the COVID-19 virus. Her record of proven results includes leading the campaign to pass Phoenix’s citywide transportation plan through 2050, which was the largest local government commitment to transportation infrastructure in the country when it passed in 2015. She has led efforts on criminal justice reform and ensuring equal pay for equal work. Mayor Gallego is passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone and improving the quality of life for all Phoenicians.

Barbara Buffaloe

Barbara Buffaloe is Columbia’s mayor. She is passionate about sustainability and community development and leads initiatives to create a greener, more resilient city. Before becoming mayor, Barbara was the city’s first sustainability manager. Barbara serves on several boards, including the Missouri Innovation Center, Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. She’s the chair of the Environment Standing Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and represented U.S. mayors at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023. Barbara is part of the Bloomberg Harvard Civic Leadership program, which equips mayors and senior city officials to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. She has held accreditation through Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) since 2004. A proud alumna of the University of Missouri, Barbara moved to Columbia from Springfield, Illinois, in the late 1990s. She earned a bachelor of science in environmental design and a master of science in environment and behavior. Barbara lives near downtown with her husband, Dr. Lucas Buffaloe, and their two children, Eleanor and Benjamin. She’s also an active member of the Columbia Rotary Club and continually seeks ways to give back.

Andre Dickens

Andre Dickens is the 61st Mayor of Atlanta. A proud native of Atlanta and a product of Atlanta Public Schools, Mayor Dickens is focused on bringing opportunity and equity to the city that he loves. Mayor Dickens’ agenda is rooted in Moving Atlanta Forward, through improving public safety, increasing opportunities for the city’s young people, empowering neighborhoods, and investing in housing and combatting homelessness, all while fostering a culture of integrity in the City. As he shared in his first State of the City address, his vision for Atlanta is: One city with one bright future. A city of safe, healthy, connected neighborhoods with an expansive culture of equity, empowering upward mobility and full participation for all residents, embracing youth development, and an innovative, dependable government moving Atlanta forward, together. Mayor Dickens was sworn in as Mayor in January 2022. Early accomplishments include making the City’s first-ever investment in early childhood education; the establishment of the Nightlife Division to address establishments with a history of high crime; the reestablishment of the Pothole Posse to rapidly respond to residents’ reports; and leading the successful coalition to keep Atlanta whole in opposition to a de-annexation effort. Prior to his election as Mayor, Dickens served eight years as an at-large City Council member. He was an entrepreneur for over a decade in both the private and nonprofit sectors and a leader in Atlanta’s tech sector. Mayor Dickens is a graduate of Mays High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State University. As the Post 3 At-Large City Council member from 2014 to 2021, Andre Dickens was a vocal legislative leader on public safety, transportation, affordable housing, workforce development, educational opportunities for Atlanta Public Schools students, and seasoned citizens programming. He served as the chairman of the Transportation Committee, providing oversight to city streets, bridges, sidewalks, paths, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport. Some of his legislative highlights include: creating the Department of Transportation, sponsoring legislation increasing annual salaries for Senior Patrol Officers, implementing a $15 per hour minimum wage for city employees, establishing BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning for affordable housing, establishing the Atlanta Youth Commission, setting aside a $40 million Housing Opportunity Bond, creating a joint commission between City Council and APS board, and establishing a BeltLine senior housing rehab program. In 2017, he sponsored and helped launch the Teen “Midnight” Basketball League, a program which includes workshops that help young men develop life skills and further their education. Mayor Dickens previously served as the Chief Development Officer for TechBridge, a nonprofit that drives community impact by bringing affordable technology and business expertise to other nonprofit organizations. In 2018, he co-founded the Technology Career Program, a free program designed to prepare unemployed and individuals experiencing disadvantage in the work field for a career in the growing technology job market. The program teaches high demand technology skills while helping participants land jobs in IT departments across Atlanta. Mayor Dickens also previously served as the Assistant Director of Outreach Initiatives for Georgia Tech’s Office of Institute Diversity. He spearheaded Tech’s African-American Male Institute, which resulted in a significant increase in the GPA and graduation rate among Black males. He also managed the Focus graduate school recruitment program and the Challenge Program that helped hundreds of students successfully transition into college life each year. Early in his career, Mayor Dickens worked as a sales engineer for DSM Engineering Plastics and became the youngest and first Black salesman of the year. At the age of 28, he co-founded City Living Home Furnishings, which grew into a multi-million-dollar retail business with two locations. Mayor Dickens ran the company for nine years until 2011. Mayor Dickens has been a member of the Georgia Tech Alumni Board of Directors and is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta, Diversity Leadership Atlanta, United Way VIP, and Regional Leadership Institute. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc.; deacon of New Horizon Baptist Church and has served on the boards of the Atlanta BeltLine, Invest Atlanta, TechBridge and the Center for Civil and Human Rights. Mayor Dickens enjoys spending time with his daughter, experiencing live music, attending church services, and traveling the world. He is an avid supporter of all of Atlanta’s sports teams.

Lauren McLean

Lauren has dedicated her career to protecting what makes Boise, Boise, while ensuring the next generation can build a life here too. She started off as a resident who just wanted to get involved by knocking on doors and organizing the community to protect our foothills. After the successful Boise Foothills Open Space Levy in 2001, she served on the Boise City Council, and in 2020 made history as Boise’s first woman elected as mayor. As a community volunteer, council member, and now Mayor, she works alongside neighbors to ensure Boise remains a safe and welcoming place where everyone can live, work, and thrive. Lauren is laser-focused on doing what she’s always done: listen to our neighbors and deliver for our people by building more homes at Boise budgets, investing in parks in every neighborhood, expanding protections for our cherished foothills and open space, and strengthening an economy that provides dignity and opportunity for every Boise family. Like so many in Boise, Lauren and her husband, Scott—her high school sweetheart—moved here as young newlyweds with big dreams to pay off student loans, buy a home, and build a family in a community they knew was special. She and Scott pinched pennies as they bought a fixer-upper and welcomed their first child. Eventually they became a family of four, they worked hard, their home became the center of gravity for the neighborhood kids, and they made memories doing what so many Boise families love to do: run through our foothills, ski Bogus, and backpack in Idaho’s wilderness. Their kids, Madeleine and Aiden, eventually graduated from public schools and started their own lives. While so much has changed in Boise over the last few decades, what made Lauren and Scott fall in love with this special place never did: strong neighborhoods, precious open space, opportunities to get ahead, and welcoming neighbors who look out for one another.

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