City of Jersey City Awarded Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Team Grant Grant Will Address Violent Crime, Positive Youth Development, and Economic Development Jersey City, NJ – Today, Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced that Jersey City is one of 12 U.S. cities selected to participate in the $45 million expansion of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Innovation Teams program. The i-teams program aims to improve the capacity of City Halls to effectively design and implement new approaches that improve citizens’ lives – relying on data, open innovation, and strong project and performance management to help mayors address pressing urban challenges. Jersey City will receive up to $2.25 million to create an innovation team, or i-team. “The City of Jersey City is honored to be selected by Bloomberg Philanthropies for this exciting project. Our focus has been on enhancing the quality of life and opportunities for residents, and this generous grant will allow us to make Jersey City’s services even stronger, particularly in the areas of public safety, youth development and economic development that benefits our inner city residents. The support from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ innovation team grant will help us enhance our approach and find better ways to serve all of our residents.” Innovation teams function as in-house innovation consultants, moving from one mayoral priority to the next. Using Bloomberg Philanthropies’ tested Innovation Delivery approach, i-teams help agency leaders and staff through a data-driven process to assess problems, generate responsive new interventions, develop partnerships, and deliver measurable results. In Jersey City, the new i-team will initially focus on violent crime, positive youth development, and economic development in commercial areas not located near the waterfront. Innovation Team grants will also go to the U.S. cities of Albuquerque, NM; Boston, MA; Centennial, CO; Jersey City, NJ; Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Mobile, AL; Minneapolis, MN; Peoria, IL; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; and Syracuse, NY. Bloomberg Philanthropies also announced that two non-U.S. cities will receive innovation team grants: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Yafo, Israel. In addition to the grants, cities receive robust implementation support and opportunities to exchange lessons learned and best practices with peers in other cities. Newly formed i-teams will hit the ground running in each city no later than spring 2015. The innovation team grants are the second round made through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Government Innovation portfolio, which focuses on promoting public sector innovation. The first round of grants were made to the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Louisville, Memphis, and New Orleans. Successes include reducing retail vacancies in Memphis, minimizing unnecessary ambulance trips to the emergency room in Louisville, cutting licensing time for new restaurants in Chicago, reducing homelessness in Atlanta, and reducing the murder rate in New Orleans. About Bloomberg Philanthropies Bloomberg Philanthropies mission is to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Public Health, Environment, Education, Government Innovation and the Arts. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloombergs charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2013, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $452 million. For more information on the philanthropy, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @BloombergDotOrg.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 15:21:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015