Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud was one 40 global mayors selected for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the flagship program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. The program is a collaboration between the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Its mission is to equip mayors to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life for their residents.

“I truly believe Dearborn is the greatest city in the world,” Mayor Hammoud stated, “and this initiative brings Dearborn into the national and international arenas where government excellence is defined. I’m grateful to Harvard University and Bloomberg Philanthropies for bringing mayors together under the banner of public service, and I look forward to taking home best practices from across the world to address problems here in Dearborn.”

As part of the initiative, Harvard faculty, staff, and students, alongside experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network of experts, work with the mayors and senior officials over the course of one year in the classroom, online, and in the field to foster professional growth and advance the necessary capabilities to drive innovation and deliver results for residents. Since its launch in 2017, the Initiative has built an alumni network of nearly 200 global mayors from 24 countries. The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative covers all program costs on behalf of mayors and their cities.

Hammoud joins an accomplished class of 28 mayors from across the U.S., and 12 international mayors from as far as Kigali, Rwanda; Glasgow, Scotland; and Helsinki, Finland, among others.

“This class brings together a diverse and dynamic group of mayors from across the globe, and we’re glad to welcome them to New York City to kick off the sixth year of the program,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, three-term mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “With all the urgent shared challenges facing cities, the opportunity for mayors to exchange ideas and learn from one another and experts is more important than ever. We’re looking forward to working with them throughout the year, and to seeing the results in their cities.”

“Through its City Leadership Initiative, the Bloomberg Center for Cities draws on the expertise of our faculty to strengthen and expand the capabilities of mayors whose work shapes the lives of millions of people,” said Harvard President Larry Bacow. “We are pleased to welcome the sixth class of mayors to Harvard and this cornerstone program, which is generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. We look forward to everything they and their colleagues will accomplish together, both in the classroom and in their cities.”

Members of the sixth class of mayors to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative are:

Matt Tuerk (Allentown, Pennsylvania); Brian Kulpa (Amherst, New York); Andre Dickens (Atlanta, Georgia); Rohey Malick Lowe (Banjul, The Gambia); Lacey Beaty (Beaverton, Oregon); Lauren McLean (Boise, Idaho); Michelle Wu (Boston, Massachusetts); Aftab Pureval (Cincinnati, Ohio); Justin Bibb (Cleveland, Ohio); Daniel Rickenmann (Columbia, South Carolina); Emma Sharif (Compton, California); Jeffrey Mims (Dayton, Ohio); Abdullah Hammoud (Dearborn, Michigan); Elaine O’Neal (Durham, North Carolina); Joe Schember (Erie, Pennsylvania); Susan Aitken (Glasgow, Scotland); Juhana Vartiainen (Helsinki, Finland); Tyrone Garner (Kansas City, Kansas); Pudence Rubingisa (Kigali, Rwanda); Chilando Chitangala (Lusaka, Zambia); Cavalier Johnson (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas (Monterrey, Mexico); Jon Mitchell (New Bedford, Massachusetts); Ed Gainey (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); Malik Evans (Rochester, New York); Darrell Steinberg (Sacramento, California); Todd Gloria (San Diego, California); Benjamina Karić (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina); Danela Arsovska (Skopje, North Macedonia); Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire, United Kingdom); Caroline Simmons (Stamford, Connecticut); Kenneth Welch (St. Petersburg, Florida); Larry Klein (Sunnyvale, California); Wade Kapszukiewicz (Toledo, Ohio); Mike Padilla (Topeka, Kansas); Minna Arve (Turku, Finland); Anne McEnerny-Ogle (Vancouver, Washington); Quentin Hart (Waterloo, Iowa); Dan Norris (West of England, United Kingdom); and Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire, United Kingdom).

In a formal impact assessment, mayors who were members of prior classes of the program reported that the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has helped them increase leadership and management capacity in their cities. Nearly 90 percent of mayors demonstrate measurable improvement in their leadership capabilities as a result of the program.

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