New York, NY – As cities find themselves on the frontlines of addressing increasingly global challenges, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative announced the seventh class of 40 mayors and 80 senior municipal leaders from their cities 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. With today’s announcement, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has 275 participating mayors and over 470 participating senior city leaders since its launch in 2017.

“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 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.

“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, the 40 mayors, who are from nine countries and six continents, 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.

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative now includes seven classes of mayors, 275 mayors in total who hail from 35 countries across six continents. Highlights of the Initiative’s new seventh class of mayors:

• The mayors come from six continents including Africa (2), Asia (1), Europe (4), Oceania (1), North America (31), and South America (1)

• The mayors hail from nine countries including Brazil (1), Canada (4), South Africa (2), the U.S. (27) and the first-ever mayors from Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (1), Saudi Arabia (1), and Switzerland (1)

• Two thirds (27) are from the U.S. and one third (13) are from international cities

• 40 percent of the mayors (16) are from cities with populations between 200,000 and 1 million people, 45 percent (18) are from cities with less than 200,000, and 15 percent of the mayors (6) are from cities with populations over 1 million people

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

North America:

Canada:

• Mayor Jyoti Gondek – Calgary, Canada

• Mayor Andrea Horwath – Hamilton, Canada

• Mayor Joshua Morgan – London, Canada

• Mayor Mark Sutcliffe – Ottawa, Canada

The U.S.:

• 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