A peer learning network for mayors and city leaders.
By: Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project Mayor Adena Ishii is the first Asian American and first woman of color to serve as Mayor of Berkeley, CA. Representing and leading a city of approximately 125,000 residents, Mayor Ishii says that at the foundation of her administration is a deep relationship with the community—key to both …
By: Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project When Jake Wilson became mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts, he stepped into office at a moment when many mid-sized American cities were confronting the same pressures: rising housing costs, rapid development, and growing expectations for local government. For Wilson, the challenge is not simply managing growth—it is ensuring that …
By: Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project Connie Boesen’s election as the first woman to lead Iowa’s Capitol city is both a historic milestone and a call to action. She views her role not just as a personal achievement, but as an opportunity to inspire future leaders and strengthen every corner of the city. “Neighborhood …
By: Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project Blacksburg, Virginia, sits at a unique crossroads where a historic Appalachian town meets the fast growing influence of Virginia Tech. Guiding the community through this moment of change is Michel Sutphin, the town’s newly elected mayor. Mayor Sutphin’s connection to Blacksburg is deep-seated. He served as a student …
Kinder initiated local interest in the grant after learning of it at the Mayors Innovation Project summer meeting in Scranton, where she was a panelist for a discussion of rental housing and tenant protections. After meeting Kyra Naumoff Shields, director of the grant program, there, Kinder worked with Roberson when she returned to Meadville to pursue the grant.
“We are so grateful for the work that these students produced for the cities in our network,” MIP Managing Director Katya Spear said.
Last month, the Mayors Innovation Project brought together newly elected mayors from across the country for its 2023 New Mayors Cohort. Held May 17-19 in Madison, WI, the 12 participating mayors attended sessions on a variety of topics and heard insights from former cohort participants on their experiences in the program as new mayors.
Mayors are on the front lines of our community’s most daunting challenges. In the last two years alone, mayors have been managing multiple crises in their cities — the COVID pandemic, racial justice uprisings, climate disasters, and an unprecedented number of houseless residents. As a result, there has been an urgent demand for peer connection …
We are excited to announce the dates for the 2021 New Mayors Cohort! The Cohort will offer invited mayors in their first term the opportunity to join a small peer group from around the US, and to participate in six virtual workshops, with specially-designed curriculum informed by current and former mayors. New mayors must immediately …
As a leader, learning to successfully manage a crisis happens while on the job, in real time. A crisis will prove to be one of the most challenging yet defining moments of any mayor’s career. Now more than ever, newly-elected mayors need support–so the kickoff for our 2020 New Mayors Cohort last month was particularly …
