Founder and Chair, Resilience Action Fund
Aris Papadopoulos is founding chair of Resilience Action Fund, a non-profit advancing resilience in the built environment (www.buildingresilient.com). He authored the book:‘Resilience–The Ultimate Sustainability’, which inspired the PBS documentary BUILT TO LAST?.
Aris has 35 years experience in construction and energy, having served as CEO of Titan America for 20 years. He received ACI’s 2013 Sustainability Award. He was named Distinguished Expert in Resilience at Florida International University’s Extreme Events Institute and chairs its External Advisory Board.
For 10 years he served the global board of the UNDRR’s ARISE initiative and was its founding chair. He advocated before five UNDRR conferences and contributed to the 2015 Sendai Framework, signed by 187 nations.
Aris has been the lead advisor to the World Bank/IFC for developing a Building Resilience Index. He was a member of the Climate Bonds Initiative expert group that launched the Climate Resilience Investment Principles. He created the first Buyer’s Guide to Resilient Homes and helped found the Resilience Youth Network.
He has appeared in the New York Times, Weather Channel, NBC and other media, and provides counsel to government, industry and organizations.
Aris earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees from MIT in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Harvard University. He is a World Trade Center 9-11 survivor.