Mayor Reed Joins Group of 40 Mayor Across the U.S. Selected to Participate in The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative

Mayor Steven L. Reed joins a group of 40 mayors from across the U.S. selected to participate in The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a program designed to equip mayors with innovative leadership and management tools to tackle complex challenges and improve the quality of life in their communities. With mayors playing a central role in driving social and economic recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, this year’s program focuses on the skills required to respond to emerging challenges with an emphasis on equity.

“It is an honor to be selected for this program, but I am even more appreciative of what it will do for our city,” Mayor Reed said. “The topics covered and the opportunity to learn from other cities’ responses to the ongoing pandemic make this program not only relevant but crucial to the work – and the challenges – taking place on the ground in Montgomery and across the nation.”

The mayors will attend immersive, online classes taught by faculty from Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School and featuring other renowned management experts from across the Bloomberg Philanthropies network. Virtual sessions will cover a range of topics on advancing recovery, from budget decision-making in a time of severe economic challenge and managing a remote workforce to advancing equity and leading civic and resident engagement.

Mayors will also receive additional supports for their cities and senior teams, such as training on using data to confront the economic consequences of the pandemic head-on, workshops on public communication, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

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.

“We launched this program four years ago because mayors have the power to make the biggest changes in America – and with cities leading the way in confronting to the COVID-19 pandemic, their jobs have never been more important,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and former three-term mayor of New York City. “This year’s class was chosen because they all believe in finding creative solutions to improve people’s lives, and we’re looking forward to helping them and their teams respond to this crisis – and make their cities stronger, better, and more equitable for years to come.”

The fourth class of mayors to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative (https://www.cityleadership.harvard.edu/) are:

Scott Singer (Boca Raton, FL); Lauren McLean (Boise, ID); Chris Mehl (Bozeman, MT); Miro Weinberger (Burlington, VT); Deborah Feinen (Champaign, IL); Luke Feeney (Chillicothe, OH); Aja Brown (Compton, CA); Katrina Foley (Costa Mesa, CA);  Monique Owens (Eastpointe, MI); Frank Whitfield (Elyria, OH); Sheldon Neeley (Flint, MI); Indya Kincannon (Knoxville, TN); Frank Scott (Little Rock, AR); Steven Reed (Montgomery, AL);  Shawyn Patterson-Howard (Mount Vernon, NY); Steve Chirico (Naperville, IL); James Donchess (Nashua, NH); Alejandra Sotelo-Solis (National City, CA); Justin Elicker (New Haven, CT); Breea Clark (Norman, OK); Christine Hunschofsky (Parkland, FL); Thurman Bartie (Port Arthur, TX); Mary-Ann Baldwin (Raleigh, NC); Darrell Steinberg (Sacramento, CA); Kimberley Driscoll (Salem, MA); Erin Mendenhall (Salt Lake City, UT); Joe Goethals (San Mateo, CA); Van Johnson (Savannah, GA); Paige Cognetti (Scranton, PA); Joseph Curtatone (Somerville, MA); James Mueller (South Bend, IN); Nadine Woodward (Spokane, WA); James Langfelder (Springfield, IL); David Martin (Stamford, CT); Lori Wilson (Suisun City, CA); Carol Dutra-Vernaci (Union City, CA); Keith James (West Palm Beach, FL); Christopher Cabaldon (West Sacramento, CA); Brandon Whipple (Wichita, KS); and Tito Brown (Youngstown, OH).

Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=297621018144012.