Lux et Veritas: Harvard & Bloomberg Create A New Center for Cities To Train Mayors and Local Leaders

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A New Space For Mayors

Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing $150 million to fund a new Center for Cities at Harvard University.

By

Marie Patino

and

Feargus O'Sullivan

‎March‎ ‎2‎, ‎2021‎ ‎5‎:‎30

"Mayors will now have a permanent space dedicated to them at Harvard University. 

Bloomberg Philanthropies said Tuesday it is investing $150 million to establish the Bloomberg Center for Cities in partnership with Harvard to provide training and resources for local government leaders. The announcement comes on day two of the CityLab 2021 summit, hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute.

Building on the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative established in 2017 with the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School,  the new center will strengthen the capabilities of mayors and their teams, advance effective organizational practices in city halls around the world and support a new generation of public servants. The Center seeks to redress a lack of professional training available globally, expanding the Leadership Initiative’s existing programs and giving them a permanent home. . .

The new center represents an expansion of an already significant presence in city leadership development. Since it began, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has served 400 mayors and 1,300 city officials across six continents and generated new research, curriculum, and teaching tools on effective city governance. Its role deepened during the Covid-19 pandemic as it gathered mayors and their teams weekly to share advice and recommendations regarding the ever-evolving crisis. . .

Through these regular exchanges, mayors were able to support each other and learn from one another. The new center seeks to expand and deepen these kinds of partnerships — and it will endow 10 new faculty positions.

"This is a major new investment in the people who have enormous and unique powers to attack society’s biggest challenges: mayors,” said Michael R. Bloomberg in the press release. “The pandemic has driven home just how important mayors are to the everyday lives of billions of people. They are the most creative and effective problem-solvers in government — and that’s exactly the kind of leadership that the world urgently needs more.”