OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth

As of 1 January 2026, Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo, Japan, is the Chair of the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth.

The Chair serves as the chief spokesperson and political figure of the Initiative, providing strategic leadership to advance priority themes and policy areas. The Chair supports, shapes, and disseminates the Initiative’s strategy, activities, messages, and engagement efforts, and co-leads governance alongside the Secretariat. This includes chairing the Steering Group, spearheading the development of the work plan and overseeing the vetting and invitation process for new members. The Chair represents the Initiative at global forums and OECD events, convenes Champion Mayors events such as meetings, workshops, or dialogues to promote knowledge sharing on inclusive growth in cities, and plays a key role in maintaining and expanding participant engagement.

The coalition has formed a Steering Group to support the Champion Mayors Chair. The members of the steering group are the mayors of: Bratislava (Slovakia) Matúš Vallo, Brussels (Belgium) Philippe Close, Glasgow (UK) Susan Aitken, Paris (France) Anne Hidalgo, Renca (Chile) Claudio Castro Salas, Turin (Italy) Stefano Lo Russo and Chattanooga (USA) Tim Kelly, and have an expansive range of experience in advancing inclusive growth agendas across a diverse set of local economic contexts and conditions.

The Steering Group is an advisory body composed of 7-8 existing participants. The members of the Steering Group support the Chair and provide guidance on the priorities of the Initiative. Members actively participate in the Initiative’s activities, helping to shape its strategic direction and substantive focus. They support practical tasks such as the Chair selection process, recruiting mayors, unifying current members, and promoting the Initiative’s outputs and activities. Steering Group members contribute their expertise on specific topics and regional issues, offering insights on thematic priorities and campaign ideas. The group should be gender-diverse and geographically representative of the participant population.

The Champion Mayors initiative is pleased to count on a range of supporting institutions to help shape this work, including the DG REGIO, European Commission, Ford Foundation, Cities Alliance, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Bloomberg Philanthropies, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and United Way Worldwide.

Are you interested in becoming an OECD Champion Mayor or do you know a local leader who has made Inclusive Growth a central part of his or her policy agenda?

If you or your local leader would like to join the coalition contact us.