Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Announces the Fifth Class of Mayors to Go Back to School

Year-long program provides 38 global mayors and 76 senior city leaders with world-class executive training and innovation skills to help deliver results for their residents

Class of 2022 curriculum will focus on leadership and management skills to confront the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 in cities

New York, New York — The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative today announced its fifth class of mayors. Thirty-eight mayors from North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa were selected for the 2021-2022 program, which 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 citizens. As the program celebrates its fifth anniversary, nearly 90 percent of past participants confirm that it has made them a better leader.

Mayors from 24 US cities and 14 international cities will each have two senior leaders join them in the program.  The mayors and senior leaders will attend immersive classes in a hybrid in-person and virtual model, which will be taught by faculty from Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School and feature renowned urban policy and innovation experts from across the Bloomberg Philanthropies network.

“We created the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative because cities have always been on the frontlines of the biggest challenges we face – and it’s critical that mayors have the skills, support, and resources they need to confront them,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and 108^th mayor of New York City. “Five years later, with mayors leading the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s never been more clear how important that work is. This year’s class of mayors is a diverse group of innovative and accomplished leaders from around the world, and we’re looking forward to working with them as they continue to lead us through this crisis and build a better, more resilient future for their cities.”

As they work to help their cities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the participating mayors have identified several key topics they would like to address during the program. The top priorities for this class of mayors are: improving the way city hall engages with their community, leading change, and enhancing communications in order to inspire action among residents.

The class of 2022 represents the most diverse class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership to date.

• Nearly half of the mayors (17) are women
• Half of the mayors identify as Black (9) or Hispanic (10)
• Over sixty percent (24) are from the United States; more than 35 percent (14) are from international cities
• Regional representation: 5 mayors are from Latin America; 4 mayors are from Europe; 4 mayors are from Canada and 1 mayor is from Africa
• Nearly forty percent (15) of mayors in the class of 2022 are in their first year of office
• Eighteen percent of mayors (7) are from cities with populations over 1 million people
• Over half (24) of the mayors are from cities with populations greater than 200,000 people

“The Bloomberg Center for Cities will put at the disposal of America’s leaders the tremendous resources of Harvard’s faculty and students,” said Harvard President Larry Bacow. “We look forward to welcoming the fifth class of mayors taking part in its cornerstone program, and we hope the experience of participating in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative will help them as they work to address complex issues and to improve their constituents’ quality of life. We are grateful to work alongside Bloomberg Philanthropies and to benefit from their generous support.”

Since its launch, the Initiative has built an alumni network of 158 global mayors. The fifth class of mayors to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative are:

Ginger Nelson (Amarillo, Texas); Brandon Scott (Baltimore, Maryland); Claudia Lopez (Bogota, Colombia); Marvin Rees (Bristol, United Kingdom); Trey Mendez (Brownsville, Texas); Raquel Lyra (Caruaru, Brazil); Tim Kelly (Chattanooga, Tennessee); Paulette Guajardo (Corpus Christi, Texas); Jeni Arndt (Fort Collins, Colorado); Lily Mei (Fremont, California); Aleksandra Maria Dulkiewicz (Gdańsk, Poland); Eric Genrich (Green Bay, Wisconsin); Donnie Tuck (Hampton, Virginia); Jay Wagner (High Point, North Carolina); Rick Blangiardi (Honolulu, Hawaii); Angie Carpenter (Islip, New York); Quinton Lucas (Kansas City, Missouri); Berry Vrbanovic (Kitchener, Canada); Peter Kurz (Mannheim, Germany); Daniel Quintero Calle (Medellin, Colombia); Dawn Arnold (Moncton, Canada); Carolina Cosse (Montevideo, Uruguay); Shawyn Patterson-Howard (Mount Vernon, New York); John Cooper (Nashville, Tennessee); Tim Sandoval (Pomona, California); Shannon Glover (Portsmouth, Virginia); Sandra Masters (Regina, Canada); Mārtiņš Staķis (Riga, Latvia); Patricia Dawson (Riverside, California); Erin Mendenhall (Salt Lake City, Utah); Miguel Romero Lugo (San Juan, Puerto Rico); Carolina Mejía de Garrigó (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic); David Ortega (Scottsdale, Arizona); Paige Cognetti (Scranton, Pennsylvania); Tishaura Jones (St. Louis, Missouri); Corey Woods (Tempe, Arizona); Randall Williams (Tshwane, South Africa); and Kennedy Stewart (Vancouver, Canada).

Launched in 2017, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is a collaboration between Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School to equip mayors and senior city leaders with tools and expertise to effectively lead cities. Harvard faculty, staff, and students, alongside experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network, work with mayors and senior officials over the course of the program to foster professional growth and advance their capabilities to drive innovation and deliver results for 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.

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About The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative                               

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative 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 citizens. Launched in 2017, the Initiative has worked with 400 mayors and 1300 senior city officials in 478 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 810 cities and 170 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 2020, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.6 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.