Some of cities’ most complex challenges — like chronic flooding in Charleston, South Carolina; derelict, unsafe housing in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Winnipeg, Canada; and youth at risk in Rosario, Argentina — require collaborative approaches across government, business, nonprofits, and communities.
In mid-March, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative brought 77 participants from multiple sectors to campus for intensive, in-person sessions as part of its nine-month Collaboration track. The 11 city teams invested in their collaboration, gained problem-solving tools, and designed plans to unite their diverse stakeholders and advance solutions to tough challenges.
Now in its eighth year, the initiative — a partnership of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies based at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University — equips mayors and their teams with research-backed programs and resources.
“In the Collaboration classroom, we study examples like the Chilean mining rescue of 2010 and the city of Cleveland’s recent work to advance inclusive prosperity in redeveloping its lakefront. Leaders explore ways to team up to innovate effectively,” said Kimberlyn Leary, senior fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University; associate professor of psychology, Harvard Medical School; associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and faculty chair of the Collaboration track.
Separated by 1,300 miles and half a continent, Winnipeg, Canada, and Shreveport, Louisiana, came to the program with a similar priority: address vacant and blighted properties that depress property values, trigger public safety challenges, and mire entire neighborhoods in cycles of decline.
“Our time in Cambridge has been amazing for a number of reasons,” said Marcus Edwards, Shreveport’s city attorney.
“Our team’s intensive focus got us toward an action plan. The frameworks, case studies, and skills-based learnings gave us confidence in the work ahead. We’ll go home and convince people that great things can be done when we work together.”
Featured series 
