Mayor Chris Hoy is one of 25 mayors selected to participate in the Program for New Mayors, offered by the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University together with Harvard’s Institute of Politics and the US Conference of Mayors to build on the longstanding tradition of a seminar for new mayors that originated at Harvard in 1975. 

Mayor Hoy joins a select group of newly elected mayors to attend in-person and virtual classes taught by Harvard University faculty. Professors from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Medical School/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will lead in-depth classroom discussions. Coursework is designed to help new city leaders make the most of their new roles, gaining strategic insights for leading cities and building out their city hall teams and organizations in the first days and months of their administrations.

The program specializes in leadership, management, and building the capacity to solve problems. It does not offer specific policy recommendations, and it is non-partisan. The program offers insights to mayors after the in-person sessions and into the first months of 2023. The in-person portion of the program began on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. Mayor Hoy is attending at no cost to the city. Thanks to a generous gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies, participation is fully funded, including tuition, accommodations, airfare, and meals. Based on teaching cases developed at Harvard, sessions will focus on research-backed management and leadership practices. Faculty will present case studies designed to simulate a range of challenges and scenarios that mayors will face as they assume office and build successful teams. During these sessions, mayors will also be introduced to several tools and frameworks to help them navigate their new roles.

“I’m looking forward to being part of this program to build management and leadership expertise for my first months in office, exchange ideas with other mayors, and discuss how to best approach the concerns we share,” Mayor Hoy said. “The people of Salem elected me to tackle priority issues in our community, and this program will help me focus my leadership and my team, allowing us to start strong.”

Mayor Hoy will bring expertise to the city via learnings from some of Harvard University’s top educators and a network of peers. The program provides an opportunity to share promising approaches and learn from fellow mayors about ideas that are already helping to enhance the quality of life in cities around the world.

The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University develops, teaches, and shares useful knowledge for those who can make a meaningful difference in the lives of people in cities around the world. Through its programs and initiatives, the center has worked with 465 mayors and more than 1,400 senior city officials in 524 cities since 2017. The center is a destination for people who work in the service of cities worldwide, advancing groundbreaking academic research, innovative pedagogies, and sustained collaborations with local government leaders on city leadership and governance, bringing together scholars and learners across disciplines with current and future city leaders to transform government and improve the lives of residents in their cities. Visit the center’s flagship program for mayors, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, online at cityleadership.harvard.edu.

The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School was established in 1966 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The Institute’s mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, policymakers, and journalists on a nonpartisan basis to inspire them to pursue pathways in politics and public service. The Institute and its 16 programs blend the academy with practical politics and offer students the opportunity to engage in current events and to acquire skills and perspectives that will assist in their postgraduate pathways. For more information about the Institute of Politics and our programming, visit iop.harvard.edu.

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 941 cities and 173 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 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.66 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The US Conference of Mayors (usmayors.org) is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Caption: 

Mayors and mayors-elect attending the Program for New Mayors are:

Ashleigh Aitken (Anaheim, CA); Melanie Kebler (Bend, OR); Ty Penserga (Boynton Beach, FL); Hollies Winston (Brooklyn Park, MN); Steve Babick (Carrollton, TX); Jim Penniman-Morin (Cedar Park, TX); John McCann (Chula Vista, CA); Barbara Buffaloe (Columbia, MO); Catherine Moy (Fairfield, CA); Becky Daggett (Flagstaff, AZ); Harvey Ward, Jr. (Gainesville, FL); Mark Salinas (Hayward, CA); Rex Richardson (Long Beach, CA); Craig Greenberg (Louisville, KY); Richard Bissen (Maui, HI); Ulises Cabrera (Moreno Valley, CA); Phillip Jones (Newport News, VA); Sheng Thao (Oakland, CA); Brett Smiley (Providence, RI); Eduardo Martinez (Richmond, CA); Chris Hoy (Salem, OR); Helen Tran (San Bernardino, CA); Matt Mahan (San Jose, CA); Juan Gonzalez (San Leandro, CA); and John Carli (Vacaville, CA).

#             #             #