GovEx joins mayors and innovators from around the world in Mexico City for Bloomberg CityLab
Last week, GovEx joined more than 500 mayors and leading policymakers, innovators, and creatives in Mexico City for Bloomberg CityLab, the annual global summit for cities. As the CityLab website explains, the event was founded 11 years ago “on the principle that important innovation is happening at the local level and that global impact can be achieved when cities share solutions.” (Check out Bloomberg Cities’ rundown of the most memorable moments from CityLab 2024.)
On Monday, before CityLab officially kicked off, GovEx leaders participated in the invite-only City Innovation Studio. GovEx founder and Johns Hopkins University’s Associate Vice Provost for Public Sector Innovation Beth Blauer (right) joined Washington Post columnist Josh Tyrangiel for a featured conversation called “Bright Spots and Opportunities: City Innovation in the Advent of AI.”
They discussed a range of ways cities in different stages of integrating AI can support their teams, including providing guidelines and training so that city employees feel comfortable engaging residents in the process and leveraging AI in ways that don’t introduce or institutionalize bias. GovEx Executive Director Amy Holmes (above) facilitated one of the breakout sessions after the conversation.
The keynote CityLab sessions began on Tuesday with a dynamic performance depicting the cultural history of Mexico City, followed by a video highlighting many of the cities that GovEx has worked with as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, including Rosario, Argentina; Las Condes and Maipú, Chile; and Recife, Brazil. (Videos of all sessions are available on the CityLab website.)
GovEx Founder and JHU Associate Vice Provost Beth Blauer talks to Washington Post columnist Josh Tyrangiel during the City Innovation Studio.
Subsequent sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday featured speakers from many other cities GovEx has worked with in the City Data Alliance (see the full agenda), including:
- Mayor Corey Woods of Tempe, Arizona
- Mayor Berry Vrbanovic of Kitchener, Canada
- Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson of Riverside, California
- Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Minnesota
- Mayor Andre Sayegh of Paterson, New Jersey
- Mayor Ricardo Quiñónez Lemus of Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Mayor Rossana Chahla of San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
- Mayor Daniela Peñaloza of Las Condes, Chile
- Mayor Mauricio Zunino of Montevideo, Uruguay
- Deputy Mayor Julian Gallardo of Renca, Chile
- Leah Tivoli, Director of Innovation and Performance for Seattle
- Sara Nelson, President of Seattle City Council
- Julieta Villa, Head of Climate Change Department in Mendoza, Argentina
- Marilía Ortiz, Finance Secretary of Niterói, Brazil
- Lucía Soca, Advisor in the Land and Habitat Division for Montevideo, Uruguay
On Wednesday, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the 2025 Global Mayors Challenge, which will award $1 million to 25 cities with a population over 100,000 “to reimagine the most essential service they deliver to residents.” This is the sixth and biggest edition of the Mayors Challenge, which has previously supported 38 cities. (Read coverage in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and StateScoop.)
Mayor Andre Sayegh of Paterson, New Jersey, a member of the City Data Alliance and recipient of a previous Mayor’s Challenge grant, told CityLab attendees about the success of Patterson’s RealFix initiative. Thanks to the support from the Mayors Challenge, RealFix helped 450 Paterson residents struggling with addiction by connecting them to life-saving medication-assisted treatment and helping 30 percent of participants experiencing homelessness find permanent housing.