Working to Make Cities & Companies Greater...Faster
(with or sans beard)
Whether working in government, start-ups, or with fortune 1000's, Gabe has shown that there is a common recipe for making rapid urban change based on an unrelenting focus on people, planet, and return on investment, and relying on vision, management & partnership.
Gabe is the former Commissioner of the Chicago and Washington DC Departments of Transportation. In both cities he revamped technology platforms and government processes while focusing on putting people first vs. automobiles on city streets. This included launching two of the first and largest bikeshare systems in the U.S. and building protected bike lanes and better pedestrian infrastructure for vulnerable citizens citywide, as well as facilitating private services like carshare and rideshare that could help each cities mobility goals. Gabe honed his creativity and leadership skills working in business, including Zipcar, where he served as Vice President, Bikes USA as national Director of Stores and his own electric powered, organic food truck chain, On The Fly.
Start-Up City is now available!
““Gabe’s lessons in Start-Up City break down the barriers between the public and private sectors in pursuit of a greater city and citizenry. The elusive recipe for successfully innovating within the confines of government is in this book.””
There has been a revolution in urban transportation over the past five years—set off by start-ups across the US and internationally. Sleek, legible mobility platforms are connecting people to cars, trains, buses, and bikes as never before, opening up a range of new transportation options while improving existing ones. While many large city governments, such as Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., have begun to embrace creative forms and processes of government, most still operate under the weight of an unwieldy, risk-averse bureaucracy.
““Gabe’s playbook provides an inside look at how to integrate private-sector skills and processes while instituting strong, public-oriented management and governance.””
During the summer of 2016, Gabe Klein and several business partners launched an advisory services company called Cityfi.
Cityfi advises cities, corporations, foundations and start-ups to help understand and navigate the increasingly complex urban landscape, facilitating new models and partnerships to make rapid, significant and high-return catalytic change.
Gabe has worked with and advised many organizations including:
