Submitted by City of Carmel
Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam has been selected for the ninth class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. The only Indiana mayor in the class, she joins 47 mayors total from 17 countries in the multipartisan 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 initiative equips mayors and senior municipal officials with the tools and expertise to solve pressing local challenges, strengthen their city halls and improve outcomes for residents.
Program expenses are covered by the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
Since its launch in 2017, the initiative has provided training to 359 mayors and over 635 senior municipal officials across 41 countries.
“I’m honored to join this year’s multipartisan Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, funded entirely without taxpayer dollars,” Mayor Finkam said. “In a rapidly changing world, mayors face increasingly complex challenges. I’m eager to learn from fellow mayors and world-class faculty, bring innovative ideas back to Carmel and share our own successes to drive even greater impact. My goal is to strengthen our community and enhance the quality of life for everyone who calls Carmel home.”
Housed at 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 nine months.
Through 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 results for communities.
In addition to the core coursework and convenings with peers, after completing the program, each municipality can access additional offerings. This includes education programs for their economic development, civic engagement, human resources, negotiation and procurement leads; opportunities to host a Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow for up to two years; and peer-reviewed-research and instructional materials to help local governments improve key organizational practices.