Mayor Williams Joins Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative to Advance City Progres

Mayor Williams announced that he has been selected for the eighth class of the Bloomberg Harvard Leadership Initiative, joining 39 mayors from 11 countries across five continents to participate in the yearlong professional management training program.

Established by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School as a first-of-its-kind program to help close the gap in executive development for the public sector, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative equips mayors and senior city leaders with the tools and expertise to expand their problem-solving capacity, strengthen their city halls, and improve outcomes for residents as cities confront increasingly global challenges. With this announcement, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative will have provided training to 314 mayors and over 540 senior city leaders across 34 countries and six continents since its launch in 2017.

"I am honored to be a member of this year's class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Through my participation, I will focus on ways to improve the outcomes of our youth through public-private partnerships and community engagement. This opportunity to engage with my peers from across the world will be invaluable, and I look forward to bringing the lessons learned back to the Bull City."

Special Assistant to the Mayor Derrick Stanfield and Budget and Management Services Assistant Director Andrew Holland also will begin the program in August.

A program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative brings together Harvard faculty, staff, and students, alongside experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies' global network, to work with the mayors and their senior officials over the course of one year. Through a combination of intensive classroom, virtual, and field-based learnings and offerings, the Initiative helps these leaders bolster their teams' use of data and evidence, drive collaboration and innovation across sectors, and deliver impact for communities. In addition to the core coursework and meetings with peers, each city is able to access additional offerings, including executive education programs for their economic development, civic engagement, human resources, negotiation, and procurement leads; opportunities to host a Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow for up to two years; and instructional research and materials to help city leaders improve key organizational practices.

About The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University

Founded in 2021 with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University serves a global community committed to improving public management, leadership, and governance. The center is designed to have widespread impact on the future of cities, where more than half of the world's people now live, by informing and inspiring local government leaders, scholars, students, and others who work to improve the lives of residents around the world. For more information, please visit cities.harvard.edu or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X, or contact Sam Fuld, [email protected] or Maria Daniels, [email protected].