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By restoring trust in city government, Mayor David Cicilline has transformed Providence, Rhode Island's City Hall into a more transparent, efficient, and innovative 21st-century organization.

A science photographer at MIT, Frankel uses photography to communicate complex ideas. Her work has appeared on the covers and inside pages of Nature, Science, Wired, Newsweek, Scientific American, and Discover Magazine.

Charlie Cannon is an architect by training who uses design thinking as "urban acupuncture" to catalyze community improvement. For the past six years, he has developed and refined tools of collaboration in the Rhode Island School of Design's Innovation Studio Program. The Program aims to develop ecologically sound infrastructures such as eco-industrial parks, power plants and municipal waste systems through interdisciplinary teamwork.

Josh Koppel sees things that others don't. No, not ghosts, but visions: Ideas, concepts and, ultimately, new products capitalizing on emerging digital technology that is changing our ways of communicating. "I think about things I'd like to see in the world, and then I make them," says Koppel.

As CEO of Rite-Solutions, Jim Lavoie is creatively inspiring employees as a source of innovation for the companies software development efforts. With his vision, strategic outlook, and understanding of the commercial market, Jim's main responsibility is charting the course for Rite-Solutions. With his charismatic presence, he helps create the culture that separates Rite-Solutions from the typical IT firm.

As the project leader behind BIF's Rhode Island Wireless Wireless Networks, Bob Panoff has experienced first hand what it takes to launch and lead a collaborative innovation project - one that brings public and private sector players together to solve a complex problem.

Michael Singer has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. His works are part of public collections in the United States and abroad, including the Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Nationally recognized as a leader in public safety innovation, Providence's Chief of Police has revamped the city's crimefighting force and successfully replaced the department's traditional methods with a new community policing concept.

As CEO of Struever Brothers and Eccles & Rouse, Struever played a key role in Baltimore's revitalization. Today he is considered a leading expert in urban revitalization, adaptive reuse of economically obsolete industrial buildings, and Brownfields development.

When Don Stanford became Chief Technology Officer of a Rhode Island-based startup called GTECH Corp. in 1979, it had just seven employees and sales of less than $1 million. By the time Stanford retired in 2002, GTECH had sales of more than $1 billion and an unassailable 70 percent market share.

Vice President, Health and Wellness Services for Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island, Samuelson's recognition of "wellness" redefines the boundaries of our current healthcare system.

After more than two decades in radio, Oedipus, now VP for Alternative Programming for Infinity Broadcasting, has had a front seat to the industry's turbulent evolution.

As Vice President for Regional Innovation at the Council on Competitiveness, Kempner has directed economic development and innovation initiatives nationally and in countries throughout the world.

Author of several books, including "Squirrel, Inc: A Fable of Leadership Through Storytelling," and "The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations," Denning works with clients like GE, IBM, the World Bank, UNDP, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Federal Treasury, on strategies to enhance knowledge management and organizational storytelling.

Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities, is helping city leaders such as mayors, corporate CEOs, university presidents and foundation officials, to improve urban competitiveness.