NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans is one of 50 “champion cities” selected as finalists in the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge, an innovation competition that identifies and accelerates the most ambitious ideas developed by cities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These 50 urban innovations rose to the top of a pool of more than 630 applications from 99 countries.
New Orleans now advances to the four-month “champion phase” of the competition. From June through October, the 50 finalist cities will refine their ideas with technical assistance from Bloomberg Philanthropies and its network of innovation experts. Fifteen of the 50 cities will ultimately win the grand prize, with each receiving $1 million and multi-year technical assistance to implement and scale their ideas. Grand Prize Winners will be announced in early 2022.
“We are honored to be among the record number of cities that submitted proposals to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge this year and are especially excited to be moving on to the Champion City phase,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “Building meaningful trust with our residents has always been at the core of my administration, finding these ‘moments that matter’ and digging in on why they matter creates real dialogue, empathy and understanding that paves the way for lasting change. I am proud of our team for bringing this idea to life, leaning in on innovation and collaboration in ways that will move our city forward.”
For more information, visit mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org.
