Luncheon Keynote Speaker

Thursday, November 6
Sponsored by KeyBank

Henry Cisneros is Executive Chairman of the CityView companies, which funds homebuilders across the nation to create homes priced within the range of average families. CityView is a partner in building more than 40 communities in 12 states, incorpor-ating more than 7,000 homes with a value of over $2 billion.

In 1981, after serving three terms as
a City Council Member, Mr. Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas. In 1984, Mr. Cisneros was interviewed by the Democratic Presidential nominee as a possible candidate for Vice President of the United States, and in 1986 was selected as the “Outstanding Mayor” in the nation by City and State Magazine. A scholarly study of America’s Mayors, The American Mayor, ranked Mr. Cisneros as one of the fifteen best mayors in the nation in a period that spanned the 20th Century.

In 1992, President Clinton appointed Mr. Cisneros to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Cisneros was assigned America’s housing and community development portfolio. He is credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation’s public housing developments, with formulating policies which contributed to achieving the nation’s highest ever homeownership rate, and with upgrading the nation’s strategies to reduce homelessness. In his role as the President’s chief representative to the nation’s cities, Mr. Cisneros personally worked in more than 200 U.S. cities in every one of the 50 states.

Mr. Cisneros has served as President of the National League of Cities, Chairman of the National Civic League, and as Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, and is National Chairman of the After-School All-Stars, founded by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Cisneros has also been an author, editor or collaborator in several books including: Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation. His book project with former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, Opportunity and Progress: A Bipartisan Platform for National Housing Policy, was presented the Common Purpose Award for demonstrating the potential of bipartisan cooperation; and Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal in the category of best business book of 2006. His most recent collaboration with former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, Our Homes, Our Communities, is a guide for local leaders in designing comprehensive housing policies.

Mr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, studied urban economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army.