Former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter Joins What Works Cities as Senior Fellow
Michael Nutter Matt Rourke / AP File Photo
New York City’s former chief analytics officer, Mike Flowers, also joins the program, funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Michael Nutter left Philadelphia City Hall a few weeks ago, but don’t expect the former mayor to leave the municipal sphere.
According to an announcement released Monday morning, Nutter will be joining What Works Cities, a program funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies and managed by Results for America. The former mayor will be a senior fellow, where he’ll “provide expert guidance to city leaders in participating What Works Cities as they expand their use of data and evidence to improve residents’ lives.”
Joining Nutter, who is currently a professor of professional practice in urban policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, as a senior fellow will be Mike Flowers, New York City’s former chief analytics officer from the Bloomberg administration.
Flowers currently serves as chief analytics officer for a New York-based startup, Enigma, and, according to the announcement, will help launch a new Analytics Kick Start Program with the Center for Government Excellence, a What Works City partner at Johns Hopkins University.
“Michael Nutter and Mike Flowers both have great track records using data and evidence in creative ways to improve people's lives in cities,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and New York City’s former three-term mayor, said in the announcement. “The wisdom they bring to the table from their work in Philadelphia and New York will be a valuable asset for everyone participating in What Works Cities.”
The What Works Cities program launched in April 2015 and aims to name 100 participating mid-size cities that will receive expert data analytics guidance over three years. Cities named to to the program to date are: Anchorage, Alaska; Bellevue, Washington; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Denton, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Independence, Missouri; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas, Nevada; Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Mesa, Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana; Saint Paul, Minnesota; San Jose, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Tacoma, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Waco, Texas.
Beyond Bloomberg Philanthropies, Results for America and the Center for Government Excellence, What Works Cities program partners include the Behavioral Insights Team, the Government Performance Lab at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Sunlight Foundation.
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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