Dana Omran has been appointed Africa MD for the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) programme.

Omran previously served as associate director for city and practice management at the programme, overseeing the strategy development process in North and East Africa, as well as Paris, France.

In her new role, she will lead the organisation’s strategic vision in Africa and spearhead a new wave of action in the 100RC African portfolio.

Omran says some of the fastest rates of urbanisation over the next 30 years are expected to take place in sub-Saharan Africa, which represents an opportunity to infuse resilience thinking in urban centres across the continent.

“From informal development to water security, waste management to unemployment, applying an urban resilience lens has been proven to yield multiple benefits through singular, but holistic, interventions.”

Omran joined 100RC after spending about nine years with the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) in various capacities. She worked for one of the World Bank Group's flagship publications, the ‘Doing Business’ report, in Washington DC, in the US, where she led the global research team responsible for benchmarking construction and urban planning regulations in 183 countries.

She then joined the IFC’s Investment Climate Advisory Services, where she advised national and city governments across Africa and the Middle East on how to design and implement innovative policy and technology solutions to improve the reach of public service delivery, increase government transparency and support small and medium-sized business growth.

In addition to her international development experience, Omran has worked in a variety of strategy and policy roles and has advised start-ups, government entities and political campaigns in Latin America and the Middle East.