Director - Urban Sustainability & Equity Planning, Center for Sustainable Urban Development - Columbia University; Board Director, United TherapeuticsDirector - Urban Sustainability & Equity Planning, Center for Sustainable Urban Development - Columbia University; Board Director, United Therapeutics

Nilda Mesa has an extensive career in environment, energy and sustainability and contributes on the subjects of sustainable development, climate, energy, equity, resiliency and urban systems. She was the founding Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, as well as Columbia University’s sustainability office. She serves on the advisory board of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development with Columbia University’s Climate School, the Advisory Committee for the City Diplomacy Lab with Columbia World Projects, and NYU’s Center for Sustainable Business. She has taught at the graduate level on the subjects of sustainability planning, energy and climate policies in cities, and housing migrant populations as Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at SciencesPo, and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs as well as the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia. She directed and was the principal author and editor of OneNYC (2015), the city's long-term sustainability plan, which tied environmental initiatives with economic development, equity and resilience. She developed innovative programs in climate, energy, sustainability, air quality, waste, green buildings, transportation, and public education. Mesa also served in senior environmental roles at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Attorney General's office. Her publications include the book Collaborating for Climate Resilience (co-author Ann Goodman) (2021) (Routledge Press)m, and a chapter in Smart(er) City (2018) (Columbia University Press). She is a member of the Board of Directors of the biotech company United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR). Mesa is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Northwestern University. She studied painting and sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Art Students League. Her art may be found in the permanent collection of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and she exhibited in New York, Canada and France. She was born in Cuba.