Port St. Lucie - Wednesday July 19, 2023 - Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin has been selected to participate in the seventh class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, joining an accomplished set of 40 mayors and 80 senior municipal leaders from cities around the world who will 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.
“I am thrilled to collaborate with mayors from across the globe and to be a part of the Bloomberg Harvard Leadership Initiative’s seventh class," Mayor Shannon Martin said. "I look forward to bringing back ideas, skills and tools that will help equip our local leaders with innovative approaches to strengthen Port St. Lucie, tackle community challenges and improve residents' lives."
The flagship 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 also able to access additional offerings, including executive education programs for their economic development, civic engagement, human resources, and procurement leads; opportunities to host a Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow for up to two years; and instructional research and materials that help city leaders improve key organization practices.
“This year’s class features a diverse, international group of mayors who are changing their cities and the world, and we’re glad to bring them all together in New York,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City. “Mayors face no shortage of urgent challenges right now – from poverty to climate change to public safety. This program is designed to help build their capacity to lead and empower them to act boldly. We look forward to working closely with this new class throughout the year and to seeing the results they’ll deliver for the millions of residents they serve.”
“The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative creates opportunities for deep connection and sustained engagement with leaders on the front lines in cities around the world, putting knowledge and research to work for millions of individuals,” said Harvard University President Claudine Gay. “Along with the broader efforts of the Bloomberg Center for Cities, it exemplifies the convening power of the University and underscores our commitment to openness and collaboration now and in the future. I am thrilled to join Bloomberg Philanthropies in welcoming our seventh cohort of mayors and senior leaders to the program.”
To kick off their participation, Mayor Martin was one of the 40 mayors, who are from nine countries and six continents, who joined Harvard faculty and renowned management leaders in New York City for a four-day immersive classroom experience. Two senior leaders from each of the cities will begin their participation in the program in August.
Members of the seventh class of mayors in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative are:
Africa
· Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis – Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa
· Mayor Christopher Pappas – uMngeni Local Municipality, South Africa
Asia
· Mayor Fahad Albuliheshi – Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Europe
· Mayor Femke Halsema – Amsterdam, Netherlands
· Mayor Alec von Graffenried – Bern, Switzerland
· Mayor Stefano Lo Russo – Turin, Italy
· Mayor Damiano Tommasi – Verona, Italy
Oceania
· Mayor Tory Whanau – Wellington, New Zealand
Canada
· Mayor Jyoti Gondek – Calgary, Canada
· Mayor Andrea Horwath – Hamilton, Canada
· Mayor Joshua Morgan – London, Canada
· Mayor Mark Sutcliffe – Ottawa, Canada
United States
· Mayor Ashleigh Aitken – Anaheim, California
· Mayor Jim Ross – Arlington, Texas
· Mayor William Reynolds – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
· Mayor Kevin Hartke – Chandler, Arizona
· Mayor Barbara Buffaloe – Columbia, Missouri
· Mayor Dean Trantalis – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
· Mayor Harvey Ward, Jr. – Gainesville, Florida
· Mayor Mark Salinas – Hayward, California
· Mayor Bruce Teague – Iowa City, Iowa
· Mayor Farrah Khan – Irvine, California
· Mayor Rex Richardson – Long Beach, California
· Mayor Karen Bass – Los Angeles, California
· Mayor Craig Greenberg – Louisville, Kentucky
· Mayor Jared Nicholson – Lynn, Massachusetts
· Mayor Ulises Cabrera – Moreno Valley, California
· Mayor Phillip Jones – Newport News, Virginia
· Mayor Sheng Thao – Oakland, California
· Mayor Curt Skoog – Overland Park, Kansas
· Mayor Rita Ali – Peoria, Illinois
· Mayor Shannon Martin – Port St. Lucie, Florida
· Mayor Brett Smiley – Providence, Rhode Island
· Mayor Eduardo Martinez – Richmond, California
· Mayor Chris Hoy – Salem, Oregon
· Mayor Kimbley Craig – Salinas, California
· Mayor John Dailey – Tallahassee, Florida
· Mayor Nancy Young – Tracy, California
· Mayor John Carli – Vacaville, California
South America
· Mayor José Sarto Nogueira Moreira – Fortaleza, Brazil
Notable alumni of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative include:
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City; Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird of Lincoln, Nebraska; Stephen Benjamin, Senior Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and former President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, African American Mayors Association, and Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina; Mayor Justin Bibb of Cleveland, Ohio; Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia; Mayor Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana; Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, England; Mayor G. T. Bynum of Tulsa, OK; Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans, Louisiana; Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa, Florida; Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona; Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona; Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego, CA; Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Michigan; Mayor Claudia López of Bogotá, Colombia; Mayor Marvin Reeves of Bristol, UK; Mayor Mārtiņš Staķis of Riga, Latvia; Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, Florida; Mayor Paul TenHaken of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston, Massachusetts, to name just a few.