News Release
ST. PETERSBURG MAYOR RICK KRISEMAN, CITY STAFF PARTICIPATE IN BLOOMBERG IDEA ACCELERATOR WORKSHOP
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
ST. PETERSBURG MAYOR RICK KRISEMAN, CITY STAFF PARTICIPATE IN
BLOOMBERG IDEA ACCELERATOR WORKSHOP
Today, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Council Member Karl Nurse, and city staff participated in the Bloomberg “Mayor’s Challenge.” A consultant with Bloomberg Philanthropies met with the mayor and city staff to help solve one of our city’s most intractable problems: affordability.
Earlier this summer, the City of St. Petersburg signed up to participate in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge – an initiative designed to encourage cities like St. Petersburg to develop bold, new, and shareable ideas to solve the most pressing problems facing our city today.
Because St. Petersburg was one of the first 300 cities to RSVP for the Mayors Challenge, it was selected to host Bloomberg Philanthropies for an “Idea Accelerator” workshop designed to help city leaders strengthen idea development. The workshop took place on Tuesday, August 22 at City Hall.
Said Mayor Kriseman: “I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg for his vision and emphasis on cities. This workshop was one of the first steps toward securing the necessary resources and funding to turn bold ideas into reality. I am excited for the opportunity to join the American cities that are going through this process and innovating together at the same time.”
Additional Background on Mayors Challenge
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge is an initiative designed to encourage local governments to articulate the most urgent issues facing cities today and then develop bold, new, and shareable ideas to solve those problems. Up to 35 Champion Cities will receive up to $100,000 to test a bold idea. Ultimately, one grand-prize winner will receive $5M and four winners will receive $1M to implement their idea at scale.
The Challenge is the first investment in the $200 million American Cities Initiative, a just-announced suite of new and expanded offerings that will empower U.S. cities to innovate and advance policy that moves the nation forward.
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CONTACT
Mayor Rick Kriseman
Contact: Benjamin J. Kirby, Communications Director
727-893-7882 or 727-501-4837 (cell)
General City Information
Contact: Mayor's Action Center
727-893-7111 or action@stpete.org
