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Statement from Dr. Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, on Today’s Resilience Roundtable in New Orleans with President Obama

“In the 21st Century, resilience building must become as integrated into city operations as education, job creation and public safety. With the release of a comprehensive resilience strategy this week, New Orleans is blazing a path that other cities must follow, and I urged President Obama, whether through the use of federal incentives or new strategies for disbursing FEMA funds, to use the power of the federal government to encourage more cities to do the same.

“New Orleans, led by the visionary Mayor Mitch Landrieu and 100 Resilient Cities, created and funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, are leading a movement to change the way cities are preparing for the future, and the federal government should be a powerful, full-throated ally.

“At our meeting today, I was able to personally thank the President for his leadership in the field of resilience and for the work his administration has done with The Rockefeller Foundation and our partners, helping cities across the country build their own capacities – through initiatives such as Rebuild by Design and the National Disaster Resilience Competition, which are dispensing billions of dollars in federal funds. Resilience building has been a top priority for The Rockefeller Foundation for more than a decade, investing over $500 million to help cities and communities build their own resilience, and in that process we have partnered with numerous federal agencies.”