Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The Honorable Mayor John Cowen, Jr. recently convened with mayors from around the world at Harvard University as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. This week he joined leaders from 45 cities across 16 countries at a pivotal moment in their leadership journey. The gathering brought 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 seniormunicipal officials across 41 countries.
“My participation in this program, at Harvard University through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, is anopportunity for our city leadership to gain valuable, research-driven tools to better serve Brownsville, said Mayor John Cowen, Jr., City of Brownsville. “The lessons learned through this program are being brought back home to strengthen our local government, expand economic opportunities, and improve quality of life for our residents. This experience is helping us build a stronger, more innovative Brownsville for all of us.”
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, fostercollaboration and innovation, and deliver results for their communities.
Brownsville Interim City Manager Alan Guard, ICMA-CM, CGFO, is also engaged in the initiative, learning and benefitting fromMayor Cowen’s selection to the ninth class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Mayor Cowen’s participation inthis Initiative is being funded through the institute.
As part of their time at Harvard, Mayor Cowen participated in a series of events with faculty and students across the University, engaging directly with the Harvard community and sharing how Brownsville is addressing key challenges and advancing solutions for residents.
Topics explored during these events included democratic innovation, homelessness and public health, cross-sector partnerships for children and youth, infrastructure development, and the evolving role of mayors on the global stage.
The gathering also highlighted how city leaders are putting learning into action strengthening how local government works and accelerating progress on shared challenges.
Notable alumni of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative include Mayor Tim Keller of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Mayor Lauren McLean of Boise, Idaho; Mayor Jyoti Gondek of Calgary, Canada; Mayor William Cogswell of Charleston, South Carolina; Mayor Justin Bibb of Cleveland, Ohio; Mayor Mike Johnston ofDenver, Colorado; Mayor Eddie Melton of Gary, Indiana; Mayor Andy Burnham of Greater Manchester, England; Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird of Lincoln, Nebraska; Mayor Paul Young of Memphis, Tennessee; Mayor Andrea Davis of Missoula, Montana; Mayor Freddie O’Connell of Nashville, Tennessee; Mayor David Holt of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Mayor Cherelle Parker ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania; Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona; Mayor Brett Smiley of Providence, Rhode Island; Mayor Pablo Javkin of Rosario, Argentina; Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Texas; Mayor Paige Cognetti of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Mayor Bruce Harrell of Seattle, Washington; Mayor Tom Arceneaux of Shreveport, Louisiana; and Mayor Stefano Lo Russo of Turin, Italy.
