MAYOR YOUNG JOINS BLOOMBERG HARVARD CITY LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE TO ADVANCE CITY PROGRESS AND IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR RESIDENTS

Mayor Youngis among the 39 mayors from 27 U.S. and 12 international cities across 11 countries and five continents who will receive executive education and management training to strengthen their city hall and deliver results for communities.

Two additional senior officials from Memphis will begin their participation in the program in August.

Memphis, Tenn. July 15, 2024. Memphis Mayor Young announced being 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 today's announcement, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative will have provided training to 314 mayors and over 540 senior city leaders across 33 countries and six continents since its launch in 2017.

"It is an honor to be invited to participate, and I am excited about what the opportunity will mean for our community," said Memphis Mayor Paul Young. "Being better able to use data to guide our work and recruit the right partners to further our city-enhancing strategies will pay dividends for our entire region."

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 convenings 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. 

"As national governments increasingly rely on cities to help them achieve their goals, there has never been a greater need for investment in the capacity of mayors and local leaders to do big things," said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. and 108th mayor of New York City."Our Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is designed to help mayors become more effective managers, build strong teams, and learn from the successes of other cities. This diverse class of leaders comes from 11 countries, and we're looking forward to helping them deliver results for the millions of residents they serve."

To kick off participation, Mayor Young will join Harvard faculty and renowned management leaders in New York City for a four-day immersive classroom experience. Two senior leaders from each of the 40 cities, including Memphis, will begin their participation in the program in August.

Highlights of the Initiative's new eighth class of mayors include:

• The mayors come from five continents including Africa (1), Europe (4), Oceania (2), North America (30), and South America (2)
• The mayors hail from 11 countries including Australia (1), Canada (3), Colombia (1), Germany (1), Iceland (1), Italy (1), the Netherlands (1), New Zealand (1), and the U.S. (27), and the first-ever Initiative mayors from Argentina (1) and Kenya (1)
• 69% (27) are from the United States and 31% (12) are from international cities
• 49% (19) are from cities with less than 200,000 people, 38% of the mayors (15) are from cities with populations between 200,000 and 1 million people, and 13% of the mayors (5) are from cities with populations over 1 million people

Members of the eighth class of mayors in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative are:

AFRICA:

• Mayor Johnson Sakaja of Nairobi, Kenya

EUROPE:

• Mayor Matteo Lepore of Bologna, Italy
• Mayor Martin W. W. Horn of Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany
• Mayor Einar Thorsteinsson of Reykjavik, Iceland
• Mayor Sharon Dijksma of Utrecht, Netherlands

OCEANIA:

• Mayor Anna Reynolds of Hobart, Australia
• Mayor Campbell Barry of Lower Hutt, New Zealand 

NORTH AMERICA:

Canada:

• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi of Edmonton, Canada
• Mayor Catherine Fournier of Longueuil, Canada

• Mayor Scott Gillingham of Winnipeg, Canada

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