Photo: Mableton Mayor Michael Owens (photo by Larry Johnson/Cobb County Courier)

The City of Mableton issued the following press release:

MAYOR MICHAEL OWENS WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF 27 NEWLY-ELECTED U.S. MAYORS TO JOIN THE
BLOOMBERG CENTER FOR CITIES AT HARVARD PROGRAM FOR NEW MAYORS: FIRST 100 DAYS

The Mayor will gain tools and training from the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard
University, Bloomberg Philanthropies, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Institute of Politics at
Harvard Kennedy School to set strategic priorities and build an effective city hall organization
through the first 100 days in office

MABLETON, GEORGIA – (December 7, 2023) – As new mayors prepare to take the reins in city halls
across the country, Mayor Michael Owens, today announced being selected as one of the 27
newly-elected U.S. mayors participating in the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University’s
Program for New Mayors: First 100 Days, delivered in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. As a participant in the Program for New Mayors, the mayor will receive world-class training from Harvard faculty, urban innovation and management experts, and other mayors on how to set strategic citywide priorities, build effective city hall organizations, and deliver for residents. Together, the new class of the Program for New Mayors hails from 19 states and represents more than 8.7 million residents nationwide.

“As mayor of the newest city in the state, being invited to this program provides invaluable insights that will empower me to create strategic priorities, foster innovation, and, along with our City Council, build an effective city government. I am honored to be back at Harvard to learn from the esteemed faculty, government experts, and fellow mayors,” said Mayor Michael Owens of the City of Mableton. “I am proud to be selected to join the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard’s Program for New Mayors: First 100 Days and learn alongside other U.S. mayors and global experts to strengthen the capabilities our city needs to lead and deliver on residents’ most pressing challenges and opportunities.”

As cities find themselves on the frontlines of addressing increasingly global challenges, the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard’s Program for New Mayors is designed to help new mayors make the most of their roles. Through the program, mayors gain strategic insights for strengthening critical leadership and management skills, leading teams to work across departments and sectors, and building out their city hall organizations in their first days and months in office.

To kick off participation, the Mayor joined other newly-elected U.S. mayors for a two-day immersive classroom experience at Harvard University. In addition to the core coursework and connection with peers, the Program for New Mayors provides opportunities for new mayors to share strategies with other mayors through the Bloomberg Center for Cities’ vast mayoral leadership network, and learn about interventions that are already working effectively to better resident lives in other cities.

Notable Program for New Mayors alumni include Anaheim, California Mayor Ashleigh Aitken; Columbia, Missouri Mayor Barbara Buffaloe; Long Beach, California Mayor Rex Richardson; Louisville, Kentucky Mayor Craig Greenberg; Newport News, Virginia Mayor Phillip Jones; Oakland, California Mayor Sheng Thao; and Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Brett Smiley.

Alumni have deployed the program’s learnings to lead their communities through unexpected crises, establish working coalitions with diverse stakeholders, and set ambitious goals to meet complex challenges — from tackling homelessness and housing access to improving community safety and aging city infrastructure — in order to better serve residents’ needs.

The Program for New Mayors is housed at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, home to a fast-growing global community committed to improving public management, leadership, and governance.

Founded in 2021 with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Center is part of Michael R. Bloomberg’s commitment to the University to help bolster the capabilities of mayors and their teams.

The Center’s cross-Harvard collaboration unites expertise focused on cities across disciplines and schools to produce research, train leaders, and develop resources for global use. The center is designed to have widespread impact on the future of cities, where more than half of the world’s people now live, by informing and inspiring local government leaders, scholars, students, and others who work to improve the lives of residents around the world.

The Program for New Mayors builds on the longstanding tradition of a seminar for new mayors that originated at the Institute of Politics in 1975.

For more information and the full list of new participating mayors, visit https://cityleadership.harvard.edu/program/program-for-new-mayors.