Speakers

Dr. Cris B. Liban, P.E. serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), overseeing their internationally recognized Environmental, Sustainability, and Energy initiatives. Cris has worked at LA Metro since 2003 and has helped it develop into one of the most progressive and forward-looking in the country, implementing over 150 sustainability initiatives to date. He is working to ensure that LA Metro assets and ~$140B in capital projects that are programmed for the next 40 years are sustainable, climate-adapted, and resilient for the more than 10 million people of Los Angeles County. Many of the new projects are to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics. A published author and national speaker, Cris has been and continues to be, the Chair or Member of multiple National Academies of Sciences Transportation Research Board committees that oversee research projects which tackle emerging and timely topics on social equity and climate, climate change impacts, greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies, life-cycle and cost framework, and sustainable transport funding and financing. He was recently the American Society of Civil Engineers National Committee on Sustainability Chair. In that capacity, he oversaw the development of an international standard for sustainable infrastructure, a committee paper for the incorporation of climate science into engineering practice, and a committee paper on the practice for green procurement. During that time, he also developed and co-founded the International Coalition of Sustainable Infrastructure in 2019 which has evolved to include engagement with more than 100,000 engineers and 10,000 cities worldwide. He holds several politically appointed offices. He is currently the President of the Los Angeles County Beach Commission. He is also the current Vice-President of the City of Los Angeles Board of Transportation Commissioners. He is a member of the California Green Bonds Development Committee. Cris received from the Philippines President in 2016 the Pamana ng Pilipino Award, the Philippines’ highest civilian honor presented to Filipinos living overseas. He was the 2020 Engineering News-Record (ENR) Award of Excellence (AOE) recipient for his global transformative work on environmental science, climate change, and environmental equity. He was elected to the National Academy of Construction in 2021 and elected as a Distinguished Member by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2022.