Gary Mayor Eddie Melton will participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a yearlong professional management training program.
The program, which is in its eighth year, includes 39 mayors and 78 senior leaders from 11 countries across five continents. It was established by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School as an initiative to help close the gap in executive development for the public sector, according to a program news release.
Through the program, city leaders are equipped with the tools and expertise to broaden their problem-solving capacity, strengthen their city halls, and improve outcomes for residents as cities face global challenges, according to the release.
“As national governments increasingly rely on cities to help them achieve their goals, there has never been a greater need for investment in the capacity of mayors and local leaders to do big things,” said Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. and the 108th mayor of New York City, in the release.
Shortly after he was elected, Melton said he attended Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Program for New Mayors, where he developed his first 100-day plan. After completing that program, Melton said it was recommended he participate in the yearlong Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
“I am extremely thrilled to join this program,” Melton said. “It’s definitely a prestigious opportunity that’s going to give me a lot of the support and resources that I need to kind of build the skill set to help lead the city.”
While participating in the program, Melton said he will focus on learning about how to increase quality housing and enhance economic development throughout the city. Overall, Melton said he looks forward to learning more about how to become a better leader and how to use his platform to bring the community together to address social issues like homelessness, food insecurity and public safety.
“Every city has its own unique challenges but the one common thing that we all have is that global issues, national issues, it all trickles down to local government. If I am able to build my skill set to tackle those issues and also increase my network of relationships of people that have experienced some of the hardships and issues that Gary is faced with, we won’t have to recreate the wheel. I’m really excited about the best practices that I can find,” Melton said.
The city leaders in the program will work with Harvard faculty, staff and students, along with experts from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network, for one year. They will work together in the classroom, virtually and through field-based learning to bolster their teams’ use of data and evidence, drive collaboration and innovation across sectors, and make an impact for communities, according to the release.
Additionally, each city leader will be able to learn more about executive education programs for their economic development, civic engagement, human resources, negotiation, and procurement leads; host a Bloomberg Harvard City Hall fellow for up to two years; and access instructional research and materials to help improve organizational practices.
The program’s 2024 class includes mayors from Kenya, Italy, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Colombia, and Argentina, and 27 mayors from the United States. Melton and Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry are the only mayors from Indiana in the 2024 class, according to the release.
“The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative brings together city leaders from across the nation and the world,” said Harvard University Interim President Alan Garber in the release. “They work with one another and draw on resources from throughout the University to address pressing social problems, improving the lives of millions of people.”
akukulka@post-tribune.com
