Anderson, SC (USA)

Mayor Terence V. Roberts is an Anderson native who has been in the forefront of the business and public service community for more than 30 years. He has served on boards and commissions across the spectrum: from caring for displaced families to advocating for public art. He has a judicious approach to decision-making and seeks to build a consensus for the improvement of Anderson and the entire Upstate community. He was recognized for his leadership, community service, and passion for education, particularly during the school readiness years.
Mayor Roberts currently serves as Co-President of the International Network of Michelin Cities (INMC) along with Mayor Olivier Bianchi, mayor of Clermont-Ferrand, France.

As a defender of businesses, the Mayor has kept working with the City Council to establish public/private partnerships to revitalize the city center, which led to the current period of sustained economic growth. His mandate has brought many new restaurants and businesses to settle in Anderson’s core, notably the million-worth hotel which recently opened and the municipal parking lot. Roberts puts the emphasis on infrastructure, green spaces and public art. His leadership has helped turning the city center into an attractive place for local commerce.

The Mayor ensures that Anderson remains a good place to live through his efforts to build a walkable, bikeable and more mobile community. Strengthening neighborhoods continues to be a priority for the City Council, which works with partners to develop housing adapted to the requirements of the century.

First elected in 2006, Mayor Roberts is now in his fifth term. He considers that his profession is at the same time exciting, challenging, frustrating and rewarding. His vision for the future is an aggressive and imaginative plan to pursue growth, production, and development. His focus as a supporter of businesses and as an advocate of the citizens of Anderson will contribute to making Anderson become “the most desirable city in the region.”

Mayor Roberts attributed his strong work ethic to the morals that his parents and former generations conveyed. He is motivated by one of his mother’s favorite quotes that he likes to repeat: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care about who gets the credit.”

Olivier Bianchi is the current Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand, France, and President of the Clermont Auvergne Métropole federation of municipalities.

The Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Global Research Professor at New York University, and the founder of the Creative Class Group, which works closely with governments and companies worldwide, Richard Florida is perhaps the world’s leading urbanist, “as close to a household name as it is possible for an urban theorist to be in America,” according to The Economist. Esquire has included him on its annual list of “The Best and the Brightest,” and Fast Company dubbed him an “intellectual rock star.” MIT Technology Review recently named him one of the world’s most influential thinkers.

Florida is the author of several global bestsellers, including award-winning The Rise of the Creative Class and The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation and Failing the Middle Class – and What We Can Do About It. He is also a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for Atlantic Cities, the world’s leading media site devoted to cities and urban affairs.

Florida previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University and George Mason University, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College and his PhD from Columbia University.

Check out some recent articles from Richard: Building Back? Richard Florida Outlines His Vision for a ‘Post Pandemic City’, Bring American cities into the 21^st century by funding urban innovation. You can also check out his podcast channel.

John is a Principal and Co-founder of Houseal Lavigne. John has directed planning, design, economic development, and zoning-related projects across the country, working with both public and private sector clients. John has been a featured speaker at national, regional, state, and local conferences for issues related to planning innovation, urban planning, zoning, transportation, context-sensitive design, sustainability, economic development, and environmental issues. John’s work has garnered national attention and has helped distinguish the firm’s body of work, receiving multiple awards in several states, as well as the National Planning Excellence Award from the American Planning Association for an Emerging Planning and Design Firm.

Jean-Yves BECHLER studied environmental engineering at Agroparistech (Paris), after a post-graduate diploma in Physics of Condensed Matter at Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris)

He worked for Ministry of Agriculture at different scales (local, national, regional), impulsing agroenvironmental shift, then moved to territorial development for DATAR, where he became Head of the Unit dedicated to the development of Massif Central.

In 2016, he became Executive director of the mobility organisazing authority for the metropolitan area of Clermont-Ferrand.

Anke Karmann-Woessner studied architecture/urban planning at the Technical University Darmstadt and completed her PHD on European environmental law at the Technical University Kaiserslautern. She worked for many years in the Bavarian State Building Administration and for several years abroad in France. In 2009, Anke Karmann-Woessner moved to the  Municipal Authorities and has been Head of the Urban Planning Office in Karlsruhe since 2013.

Numerous teaching activities at universities: 2013 Honorary Professorship at the Nürtingen University of Applied Sciences, 2018-2021 Visiting Professorship University of Salford/Manchester (GB), since 2018 lectureship at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), numerous jury and speaker activities as well as publications. Lead of EU-funded projects in the European Union and internationally (India). Anke Karmann-Woessner is a member of the Executive board of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), the Advisory Board of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur and was appointed to the German Academy for Urban and Regional

Elected as Bridgewater’s 26^th Mayor in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.

Over the course of his tenure in municipal governance, David has been at the forefront of many key initiatives that have helped drive Bridgewater to become the strong centre of economic, social, and sustainable leadership that it is today. Known for his willingness to speak up and respected as one to never mince words, David has a reputation as one to get things done.

During his term as mayor, David championed the introduction of public transit to Bridgewater, as well as fostering new relationships to take Bridgewater to the next level, as evidenced in the Smart Cities Challenge win, relationships with C40 and as a board member for the International Network of Michelin Cities.

Francis Renault is currently in charge of the Michelin Group’s value chain adaptation to the physical risks induced by climate change.
His career path, initially in research notably at Michelin, has led him over the last 25 years to manage issues related to the environment, people’s health and safety, fire and security at operational and Group levels.

Toni Lautenschläger holds a Diploma degree in Physics from the University of Regensburg. From 1991 to 2000 he worked as consultant in the energy policy sector among others for the European Commission.  Since 2000 Toni Lautenschläger has served for the City of Regensburg starting as project manager and holding the actual position since 2015. From 2006 on Toni is in addition managing director of the RBD Regensburg Business Development GmbH and there in charge of the international marketing of the economic area of Regensburg.

Michael Grein is the Coordinator of Municipal Development Policy of the City of Regensburg.
One of Mr Grein’s tasks is to raise awareness of the sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda (SDGs) in Regensburg, both in urban society and in the city administration. The development of the first municipal sustainability monitoring system in Regensburg, the Future Barometer, is also one of his tasks, as is the expansion of fair trade and fair procurement in the city.

General Manager of Magog technopole since 2021, François Leduc supports innovative project leaders in the Memphrémagog region. He has had the pleasure of working in the telecommunications industry, the media sector and the tourism industry. Today, his mission is to attract and foster the growth of technological and innovative companies by offering them a collaborative work environment, within a passionate business community focused on knowledge sharing, for the benefit of the greater Magog region.

With training in cellular biology specializing in microbiology, completed by a third cycle in management at IAE Aix-Marseille, Yannick Izoard began his career in 1998  by founding and managing the company Biostrategy, specializing in marketing applied to the creation of innovative companies in biotechnology. He then joined Anvar (National Agency for the Promotion of Research) in 2002 as business manager. He joined the Oseo Auvergne regional management in 2005 to take charge of technology transfer programs and European affairs, then digital projects supplemented by the plastics processing sectors and other industrial applications. In 2014, he was appointed Regional Head Innovation at the French Bank of Investment (Bpifrance). He has instructed, monitored or decided on more than 1,000 innovation project financing files. He left Bpifrance in September 2019 for the position of Managing Director of Clermont Auvergne Innovation.

Annie Sutton has worked at the Anderson County Library System in various roles over the last 17 years. She has been the Director for 2.5 years. Annie obtained her Master’s of Library and Information Science from Indiana University, Bloomington.
In 2019 she was the South Carolina Librarian of the Year, and since being the Library Director she has focused in on outreach, advocacy and innovation. Annie is currently serving as the Literacy Chair for the Rotary Club of Anderson and on the United Way Community Impact Cabinet.

Magali was born in 1976. She studied sociology, linguistics and science education at the University of Clermont-Ferrand and graduated as a social worker in 2000. From 2000 to 2002, she worked in Ireland in Dublin, at first in a factory and then in a pub to improve her English.

In 2002, she went back to College in France and got a bachelor degree in linguistics and a master degree in linguistics and teaching french as a foreign language. From to 2002 to 2009, she worked as a social worker and a specialist educator with disabled children for 4 years and then with young offenders to help them reintegrate school and job employment.

In 2009, she started a new program and another degree to become a Senior education advisor with students in middle and high school. In 2014, she worked in a middle school located in a poor neighborhood in Clermont-Ferrand with 25 different nationalities, from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. She has an extensive experience working in tough areas or disadvantaged neighborhoods.

She also worked as a training officer for the Academy of Clermont-Ferrand (training session for young teachers). In 2016, she was selected by the French Fulbright Commission to participate in the

European Administrators Program in Washington DC and Denver. The European School Administrator Program brings outstanding European administrators and head teachers to the United States to examine and exchange ideas on various approaches to promote the economic and social advancement of minority, refugee, and youth immigrant.

In 2018, she was a co-writer in the book: Territoires Vivants de la République (https://www.editionsladecouverte.fr/territoires_vivants_de_la_republique). This collective work restores the possible conditions for teaching in France today. It thus defends a positive vision of the school in working-class neighborhoods. But also a political vision of the school and a model of positive integration and citizenship building.

In september 2023, she has been invited by the University of Minnesota Twins Cities in Minneapolis for ten days to give two lectures about the French school system and how to work in comparative education between the American and French educational system. She also visited High schools and met American teachers, school board and headmasters. It was such a deep and interesting experience.

Since 2014, she has been involved in politics and is Deputy Mayor in the City of Clermont-Ferrand in charge of equal rights and fight against discrimination, to be more specific : to promote equality gender and LGBT policies and fight against racism. In those public policies, recently with the Mayor Olivier Bianchi, they inaugurated the first « women house » named 25 Gisèle Halimi. From now, they accompany and help women victims of domestic violence, health issues and in social needs (job, housing…). Since the opening on January 1, 2024 they have welcomed 2,500 women.

Calmin Borel is the General Delegate of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

Adam Rosendahl is an international facilitator, experience designer, DJ and the founder & CEO of Late Nite Art®. He works with the world’s top companies to create transformational keynote experiences that impact and inspire tens of thousands of leaders, entrepreneurs and teams across 13 countries.

Deputy mayor of Clermont-Ferrand for International Relations

Alexander Rupprecht, born in Dorsten in 1971, studied political science, cultural studies and economic policy and then worked for several years in the field of technology and innovation promotion. Since 2013 he has been managing director of the municipal R-Tech GmbH in Regensburg, where he coordinated the construction of the new innovation center “TechBase” for Start-ups and other innovative companies. In addition to TechBase, R-Tech GmbH also organizes the Bavarian Cluster Mobility & Logistics and the Digital Start-up Initiative Upper Palatinate.

After more than 10 years as a professional basketball player, Carole joined the Michelin Group in 1995.

From beginnings in Organization, she went on to work in the fields of Progress, Management and Human Resources.

She then became Director of the ASM Omnisports, the Michelin-run sports club and since 2017 has been in the Public Affairs team for France, focusing on territorial relationships. She is also in charge of Michelin Development for the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region in central France, an initiative to create jobs everywhere Michelin is located.

Representing Michelin, she has been the vice president in charge of industry for the Chamber of Commerce of the Puy de Dome and on the board of the Regional Chamber since 2021.

Fanny Martin is in charge of the visual arts Department for the City of Clermont-Ferrand since 2017. She worked in different contemporary art institutions such as the Contemporary Art Institute (IAC), Villeurbanne-Rhône-Alpes, the contemporary art center of Parc Saint Léger and the Lyon Museum of contemporary art. She graduated from the Institute of political sciences of Lyon in 2009. Since the beginning of her career, she has been interested in the subject of artists’ residencies and has been running for one year a place dedicated to residency in Clermont-Ferrand. She is the CreArt coordinator for the City, European network for artistic creativity offering, among other things, an artist residency program between 13 European cities.

Herman A. Keith Jr., is a Painter and Muralist from Anderson, South Carolina.

His mission is to unite art with the community through the creative process and to create art that transforms public spaces and individual lives. The work he creates addresses a visual dialogue between the past, present and the now. He respectfully installs large artwork in public places with the intention to visually communicate guidance and direction for humanity through the use of light. Color is Light, Light is Energy, Energy is Life, Life is Love.

Herman received his MAT in Art Education from Lander University and a BFA in Graphic Design from Howard University. He is the founder of the South Carolina Rural Arts Project (S.C.R.A.P.) which is in partnership with the Lake City Creative Alliance. This partnership is a conscious effort to energize and revitalize rural towns and communities through art by transforming public spaces collectively with local individuals, institutions, and organizations. Keith is a visiting art instructor at Claflin University and currently resides in Lake City, SC.