Mayor Sue Finkam joins mayors from around the world at Harvard University

Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam convened with mayors from around the world at Harvard University from April 12 to 14 as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, joining leaders from 45 cities across 16 countries at a pivotal moment in their leadership journey.

The gathering brings together mayors to reflect, share insights, exchange ideas, and highlight how they are delivering results for their communities.

Established by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative provides mayors and senior city officials with research-based insights and tools to solve urban problems and improve outcomes for residents. Since its launch in 2017, the program has trained 359 mayors and more than 635 senior municipal officials across 41 countries.

“It has been an honor to collaborate with fellow mayors and world-class faculty at Harvard to tackle the increasingly complex challenges facing modern cities,” Mayor Finkam said. “By sharing Carmel’s successes and bringing innovative, data-driven ideas back home, we can further strengthen our community, enhance our exceptional quality of life and ensure we are delivering the highest level of service to all our residents.”

Housed at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, the Initiative supports mayors and their senior teams over nine months through classroom, virtual, and field-based learning. Drawing on Harvard faculty, staff, and students – as well as experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network – the program helps city leaders use data and evidence more effectively, foster collaboration and innovation, and deliver results for their communities.

As part of her time at Harvard, Mayor Finkam participated in a series of events with faculty and students across the University, engaging directly with the Harvard community and sharing how Carmel is addressing key challenges and advancing solutions for residents.

Topics explored during these events include democratic innovation, homelessness and public health, cross-sector partnerships for children and youth and infrastructure development.

The gathering also highlights how city leaders are putting learning into action – strengthening how local government works and accelerating progress on shared challenges.