Driscoll, Curtatone selected for Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative

Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone

Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone are joining 38 other U.S. mayors in the fourth class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative’s leadership and management training starting this month.

Launched in 2017, the initiative is a collaboration among Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard’s Kennedy School, and the Harvard Business School to give mayors and senior city leaders the tools and expertise to lead complex cities effectively and to improve their citizens’ quality of life. The 40 mayors were selected for their dedication to finding creative solutions to improving people’s lives, and they represent the country’s geographic and demographic diversity.

The initiative’s 2020-2021 curriculum will focus on economic recovery from COVID-19, with an emphasis on equity. Curtatone, Driscoll and their colleagues will attend online classes taught by faculty from the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School and management experts from the Bloomberg Philanthropies network.

Curtatone was first elected as Somerville’s mayor in 2003, and began his eighth term in January. Before becoming Somerville’s longest-serving chief executive, he had served eight years as an alderman at-large (on what is now called the City Council).

Driscoll was elected to the Salem City Council in 1999 as the Ward 5 representative. In 2005, she was elected as the city’s first woman mayor, now serving her fourth four-year term. She had also worked for the city of Beverly and in Chelsea, where she served as deputy city manager.