Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Announces Sixth Class of Mayors
July 18, 2022
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Yearlong program provides 40 global mayors and 80 senior city leaders with world-class executive training and innovation skills to help deliver results for residents of their cities
July 18, 2022, New York, New York: The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative today announced the sixth class of 40 mayors from around the world who will participate in the yearlong education and professional development program. The program is designed to equip mayors with the leadership and management tools to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. The private sector invests more than $42 billion each year in executive development but there is no equivalent in the public sector. The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative aims to close this gap to help mayors excel.
To kick off the program, the mayors joined Harvard faculty and renowned management experts in New York City this week for a four-day, immersive classroom experience and convening. Two senior leaders from each of the cities will also participate in the program and begin their classroom experience in August.
The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative’s sixth class of mayors represents a diverse range of geographies and experiences:
“This class brings together a diverse and dynamic group of mayors from across the globe, and we’re glad to welcome them to New York City to kick off the sixth year of the program,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, three-term mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “With all the urgent shared challenges facing cities, the opportunity for mayors to exchange ideas and learn from one another and experts is more important than ever. We’re looking forward to working with them throughout the year, and to seeing the results in their cities.”
The flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, the Initiative is a collaboration between Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School that aims to provide a world-class learning experience for mayors and their senior leaders to help equip them with the tools and expertise to effectively govern cities. Harvard faculty, staff, and students, alongside experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network of experts, work with the mayors and senior officials over the course of one year in the classroom, online, and in the field to foster professional growth and advance the necessary capabilities to drive innovation and deliver results for residents. Since its launch in 2017, the Initiative has built an alumni network of nearly 200 global mayors from 24 countries.
Members of the sixth class of mayors to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative are:
Matt Tuerk (Allentown, Pennsylvania); Brian Kulpa (Amherst, New York); Andre Dickens (Atlanta, Georgia); Rohey Malick Lowe (Banjul, The Gambia); Lacey Beaty (Beaverton, Oregon); Lauren McLean (Boise, Idaho); Michelle Wu (Boston, Massachusetts); Aftab Pureval (Cincinnati, Ohio); Justin Bibb (Cleveland, Ohio); Daniel Rickenmann (Columbia, South Carolina); Emma Sharif (Compton, California); Jeffrey Mims (Dayton, Ohio); Abdullah Hammoud (Dearborn, Michigan); Elaine O’Neal (Durham, North Carolina); Joe Schember (Erie, Pennsylvania); Susan Aitken (Glasgow, Scotland); Juhana Vartiainen (Helsinki, Finland); Tyrone Garner (Kansas City, Kansas); Pudence Rubingisa (Kigali, Rwanda); Chilando Chitangala (Lusaka, Zambia); Cavalier Johnson (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas (Monterrey, Mexico); Jon Mitchell (New Bedford, Massachusetts); Ed Gainey (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); Malik Evans (Rochester, New York); Darrell Steinberg (Sacramento, California); Todd Gloria (San Diego, California); Benjamina Karić (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina); Danela Arsovska (Skopje, North Macedonia); Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire, United Kingdom); Caroline Simmons (Stamford, Connecticut); Kenneth Welch (St. Petersburg, Florida); Larry Klein (Sunnyvale, California); Wade Kapszukiewicz (Toledo, Ohio); Mike Padilla (Topeka, Kansas); Minna Arve (Turku, Finland); Anne McEnerny-Ogle (Vancouver, Washington); Quentin Hart (Waterloo, Iowa); Dan Norris (West of England, United Kingdom); and Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire, United Kingdom).
In a formal impact assessment, mayors who were members of prior classes of the program reported that the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has helped them increase leadership and management capacity in their cities. Nearly 90 percent of mayors demonstrate measurable improvement in their leadership capabilities as a result of the program.
“Through its City Leadership Initiative, the Bloomberg Center for Cities draws on the expertise of our faculty to strengthen and expand the capabilities of mayors whose work shapes the lives of millions of people,” said Harvard President Larry Bacow. “We are pleased to welcome the sixth class of mayors to Harvard and this cornerstone program, which is generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. We look forward to everything they and their colleagues will accomplish together, both in the classroom and in their cities.”
About The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative
The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative–the flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University–is a collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies to equip mayors and senior city officials to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. Launched in 2017, the Initiative has worked with 428 mayors and 1400 senior city officials in 494 cities worldwide. The Initiative has also advanced research and developed new curriculum and teaching tools to help city leaders solve real-world problems. For more information, please visit the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative or visit us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 941 cities and 173 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.66 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Twenty-two Harvard graduate students take their talents to U.S. and international cities
June 10, 2022, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities, is pleased to announce the 2022 Bloomberg Harvard Summer Fellows. This group of 22 outstanding Harvard Master’s and professional degree students was selected from a highly capable pool of more than 150 applicants from across nine Harvard Schools.
Students will work in local government in the following cities, all recent participants in the Initiative’s programming for mayors and senior city leaders:
They will contribute meaningfully to innovating government services, applying the tools of data-driven decision-making, human-centered design, and cross-sector collaboration to help cities tackle complex challenges such as gun violence, youth mental health, equitable economic development, and homelessness, improving the lives of city residents.
Since 2018, the Initiative has placed 86 Harvard graduate students in paid summer roles in 59 U.S. cities and nine international cities (some with multiple placements). Fellows work closely with city leader supervisors, addressing complex problems such as affordable housing, community safety, early childhood development, equitable economic recovery, and racial equity and access. Fellows deliver work such as analyses, plan designs, and new resources to assist mayors and city staff in advancing key priorities.
This year’s class of Summer Fellows includes 12 graduate students from Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), four from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, two from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, one from the Harvard Divinity School, and one earning a joint degree at HKS and Yale Law School.
“Summer Fellows are catalysts and emerging leaders,” said Pascha McTyson, the Initiative’s Program Manager for Student Engagement. “The Fellowship is beneficial to everyone—the students who apply their skills and capabilities and gain valuable exposure, and the cities that gain extra capacity and new knowledge and tools to innovate and serve their residents.”
Fifteen Harvard graduate students bring their skills to cities in the U.S. and abroad.
May 22, 2023, Cambridge, Massachusetts – The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, welcomed its newest class of Summer Fellows today.
After receiving more than 100 applications across five Harvard Schools this year, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative selected 15 accomplished graduate and doctoral degree students.
Fellows will spend the summer embedded in local government in the following cities, all recent participants in the Initiative’s programming for mayors and senior city leaders:
Fellows will work directly in their host cities in project areas including climate action, equitable economic development, civic engagement, government and technology, and community-centered governance.
“Summer Fellows bring critical capacity to work on mayoral priorities aimed at producing deliverables with high impact potential for residents,” said Pascha McTyson, the Initiative’s Program Director for Student Engagement. “Fellows were selected based on their clear articulation of their interest in cities, how their skills could be effectively and creatively applied to the project scope, and how the experience could support their postgraduate career goals.”
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Since 2018, the Initiative has placed 108 Harvard graduate students in paid summer roles in 86 cities across 15 countries. Eight Summer Fellows were hired for full-time roles in their cities after the fellowship concluded.
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Fellows work closely with city leader supervisors, addressing their city’s most pressing problem, such as affordable housing, community safety, early childhood development, equitable economic recovery, or racial equity and access. Fellows deliver work such as recommendations, analyses, plan designs, and new resources to the mayor, senior leaders, and other key stakeholders in the city.
This year’s class of Summer Fellows includes graduate and doctoral candidates from the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard Business School.
Seven emerging leaders take up new roles in US cities
August 4, 2022, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities, is pleased to announce the first recipients of the Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship. Seven accomplished Harvard graduates have accepted positions in city halls around the country, where they will make significant contributions over the next two years.
The City Hall Fellows are working in these cities, which have participated in the Initiative’s programming for mayors and senior city leaders:
The Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship places Harvard master’s or professional degree graduates into leadership positions in city halls, where they will contribute to lasting change by applying skills and helping build capabilities in city government. The Fellows will help their host cities tackle pressing and significant challenges identified by each mayor. Central to each Fellow’s work will be strengthening their host city’s capacity to sustain the work beyond the two-year fellowship term.
The inaugural class of City Hall Fellows includes three master’s degree graduates of Harvard Kennedy School, two from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and two from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
“I’m delighted by the knowledge and energy of this inaugural group of talented professionals,” said Bulbul Kaul, the Initiative’s Senior Program Director for City Support and Student Engagement. “The City Hall Fellows will take on complex challenges that are top priorities for each city’s leadership, ones that will benefit from fresh perspectives, new uses of data, and collaborative and innovative approaches to help diagnose and address the underlying causes and symptoms. We look forward to the cities’ future progress and accomplishments, achieved with their Fellows’ contributions over the next two years.”
The City Hall Fellowship team is planning future cohorts and will invite potential host cities to apply in fall 2022. Fellowship applications will open to eligible Harvard graduate students at that time, and the Initiative will announce the second annual cohort of Fellows in summer 2023, following a competitive application process. Fellows receive a competitive salary and benefits, robust professional development opportunities, and a unique opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.
Visit our Fellowships page and join our email list to get the latest information.
