Mayor Abdullah Hammoud (back row, left) is one of 40 mayors selected worldwide to be part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, designed to help mayors tackle the complex challenges they face.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud (center) speaks during the 2022 Mayor’s Arts Awards, as EmmaJean Woodyard (left), executive director of the Dearborn Community Fund, and Mike Mosley of the Players Guild of Dearborn listen.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is one of 40 mayors selected worldwide to be part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, designed to help mayors tackle the complex challenges they face.
The program gives the mayors tools to solve problems and to improve the quality of life for the residents of their cities.
The program is a collaboration between the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Harvard Business School and Bloomberg Philanthropies, a non-profit that works to improve the quality of life for people by focusing on the arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health.
Hammoud said he is grateful for Harvard University and Bloomberg Philanthropies for bringing mayors together with the goal of better public service.
“This initiative brings Dearborn into the national and international arenas where government excellence is defined,” he said. “I look forward to taking home best practices from across the world to address problems here in Dearborn.”
Hammoud joins a team of 28 mayors from the United States and 12 mayors from across the globe, from as far away as Kigali, Rwanda, and Glasgow, Scotland.
The program, begun in 2017, has brought together 200 mayors from more than 24 countries. The initiative covers all of the mayors’ program costs during the year as they meet 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.”
The group will kick off the program in New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who founded Bloomberg Philanthropies, will welcome them.
“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,” he said. “We’re looking forward to working with them throughout the year, and to seeing the results in their cities.”
Harvard President Larry Bacow said the initiative draws on the expertise of its faculty to strengthen and expand the capabilities of the mayors, who impact the lives of countless people.
“We are pleased to welcome the sixth class of mayors to Harvard and this cornerstone program,” he said. “We look forward to everything they and their colleagues will accomplish together, both in the classroom and in their cities.”