(Above: Photos from kickoffs in new CDA cities, clockwise from top-left: Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones with city leaders and representatives from GovEx and Bloomberg Philanthropies; Denver Mayor Mike Johnston; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; Austin Mayor Kirk Watson; Santiago Mayor Mario Desbordes; Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.)
Last week, Bloomberg Philanthropies officially welcomed 15 cities to the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance. Established in 2022 with a $60 million Philanthropies investment, the Alliance helps municipalities across North, Central, and South America with populations of 100,000 or more accelerate data use to better serve their communities. GovEx is the delivery partner for the Alliance, providing executive education, individualized city coaching, and technical assistance.
The new additions include six of the 20 largest population centers in the Americas, increasing the size of the Alliance to 80 cities in 12 countries, representing 78 million residents. The new cities:
- Austin, Texas
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Dallas, Texas
- Denver, Colorado
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Newport News, Virginia
- Toronto, Canada
- Vicente López, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Porto Alegre, Brazil
- São Paulo, Brazil
- Lo Barnechea, Chile
- Santiago, Chile
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Medellín, Colombia
The launch was covered by national and international media, including Politico and Axios, and in local and regional media in many of the cities, including Boston, Austin, Bogotá, Santiago, Newport News, Kansas City, and Medellin.
Over the last several weeks, GovEx coaches and leaders from Bloomberg Philanthropies and GovEx traveled to the Alliance’s new cities to meet with mayors, city leaders, and community representatives to kick off their engagement, determining where the cities will focus their efforts over the next 10 months.
“The mayors in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance will be on the forefront of harnessing data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to tackle urban challenges—and seize opportunities,” said Latricia Boone, interim Executive Director of GovEx. “Their municipalities will serve as hubs of innovation—integrating the latest technology to modernize services, streamline permitting, mitigate disasters, and look ahead—in service of improving the outcomes that impact lives daily.”
