Mayors Innovation Project

10/07/2026

October is ! 🚶‍

Mayors across the country are taking action to address the pedestrian safety crisis, from Alameda’s $15 million corridor redesign and Lansing’s new pedestrian refuge islands to Boise’s $1 million Safe Streets and Roads for All award.

To celebrate, we’re sharing a new roundup highlighting projects and strategies from our Mayors Institute on Pedestrian Safety (MIPS) alumni.

Explore what cities are doing and find ideas and best practices to bring back to your community:

By Quincy Midthun, Mayors Innovation Project While traffic fatalities remain a national crisis—with 39,252 people killed on U.S. roadways, including 7,080 pedestrians, in 2024—the everyday safety residents experience happens at the local level. Through planning, …

10/06/2026

Midwest Mayors show up for a Week Without Driving! From taking the challenge themselves, to Council proclamations, to providing free transit, their actions demonstrate leadership and make visible the barriers faced by those without access to a vehicle. Mayor Julia Kim Norton - Serving as Mayor in Rochester, MN

09/02/2026

One week to go!💧

Join us Thursday, Sept. 10 for a conversation on communicating about emerging water quality risks and building public trust.

For mayors, city managers, and water utility practitioners.

Register: https://airtable.com/app3VBtoTLFitcirq/pagdRNvbwBXGgrTaR/form

08/11/2026

Mayors have a unique ability to bring together important stakeholders to address challenges facing their communities. In Farmington Hills, MI, Mayor Theresa Rich is using that power to bring together nonprofits, faith leaders, educators, elected officials, and residents to improve food access and support families.

Today, we bring you our latest Member City Spotlight 💡 featuring Farmington Hills' Feed the Need FH Task Force. Hear from Mayor Rich about how she brought more than 50 community leaders together to respond to the needs of families, and how that effort has grown into an ongoing initiative connecting residents with food, transportation, child care, and other resources.

➡️https://mayorsinnovation.org/2026/08/10/member-city-spotlight-farmington-hills-mi/

07/31/2026

Last week the Mayors Innovation Project was in Madison, WI for our Summer Meeting! Over 100 attendees—including 44 mayors—gathered for rich discussions on housing, zoning, entrepreneurship, civic health, safe streets, and building decarbonization. Mayors shared solutions, asked tough questions, connected with new and familiar friends, explored some of Madison’s most iconic attractions, and heard from our wonderful keynote speaker, Kate Garman Burns, the Director of State and Local Innovation, Federation of American Scientists (FAS)!

As always, our goal is to send each attendee home feeling inspired and with at least one new idea, policy, or connection that they can use to improve their city.

We’re incredibly grateful to the mayors, speakers, partners, city staff, and attendees who helped make this event a success! A special shout out to the incredible team at the City of Madison, WI who made this meeting such a success! And a huge thank you to our meeting sponsors: Grid Watch, Not With Our Money, Trust for Public Land, Via, Go Vocal (formerly CitizenLab), Simply Spatial, and Destination Madison, BCycle for making this meeting possible! Your support allows us to create spaces where mayors can share bold ideas, ask hard questions, and solve problems.

Stay tuned for more posts from us in the coming weeks with highlights, photos, and best practices from each panel! Check out materials from the meeting, including the briefing book from each panel, on our website: https://bit.ly/MIP-S26.

07/22/2026

We’re thrilled to be kicking off our Summer 2026 Meeting tomorrow in Madison, WI! Hosted by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and her wonderful team at the City of Madison, the summer meeting will bring together mayors and policy experts from across the country to share innovative ideas and resources that mayors can bring home to benefit their cities and residents.

We’ll be hosting panel discussions on zoning, housing, civic health, safer streets, and building decarbonization. In addition to panels, mayors will have the chance to explore Madison’s LEED certified fleet services building🚌♻️, safe streets projects 🚲🛣️, Olbrich gardens🌳🪻, Breese Stevens Field 🏃‍♀️🎤, Public Library 📖🎒, and more!

As always, our commitment is to send mayors home with at least one new best practice, policy, or connection that can help them improve their cities. Thank you so much to our generous sponsors who helped make this event possible: GridWatch, Trust for Public Land, Via, Destination Madison, BCycle, Go Vocal, Not With Our Money, and Simply Spatial—your support allows us to equip mayors with the tools they need to move their cities forward.

To stay connected during and after the event, be sure to follow us and tag us in your posts. We can't wait to see you! Not able to join us? No problem! Access all conference materials—including our panel resources—here on our website: https://bit.ly/MIP-S26, and stay tuned for meeting highlights and photos in the coming weeks.

Join us in Madison, WI for the Summer Meeting, hosted by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway!

07/07/2026

Across the country, cities are reassessing their relationship with Flock Safety, the fast-growing provider of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. Once marketed as a turnkey crime-fighting tool, Flock’s system is now at the center of a national debate about data governance, public trust, and the limits of local control.

Check our our latest feature to learn how cities are balancing public safety with community expectations for privacy and accountability 👉

By Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project Across the country, cities are reassessing their relationship with Flock Safety, the fast-growing provider of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. Once marketed as a turnkey crime-fighting tool, …

06/24/2026

We’re just 4 weeks out from our 21st Annual Summer Meeting - this year in Madison, WI! Today, we're incredibly honored to announce that Kate Garman Burns will be taking the stage as our featured keynote speaker 🎤 .

Garman Burns served as Executive Director at MetroLab Network beginning in 2022. She brought this work to the Federation of American Scientists, now leading the MetroLab policy team as the Director of State and Local Innovation. Previously, she was a Senior Associate at Cityfi and worked for two mayoral administrations. Kate was the Technology Policy Advisor for Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle, WA. And before moving to Seattle, she was the Innovation Policy Advisor for Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, MO.

Don't wait! Make your plan to join us today 👉https://mayorsinnovation.org/meetings/summer-meeting-2026/

06/16/2026

Happy 🌈🏳️‍⚧️!

Often national debates dominate the conversation, but it is local leaders who shape the everyday experiences of residents—through city services, public spaces, partnerships, and the simple but powerful act of ensuring that everyone feels they belong. Thank you mayors for all you do to build welcoming, safe, and inclusive cities for all!

06/05/2026

Data consistently shows that youth violence spikes as schools close and seasonal temperatures rise. As we mark National Gun Violence Prevention Month and observe National Gun Violence Awareness Day, municipal leaders across the country are facing one of the most critical challenges of the year: keeping our communities safe during the summer months.

Our latest feature examines how cities are successfully reducing youth violence by investing in robust summer enrichment and youth employment programs. From Durham, NC to Milwaukee, WI, cities are proactively keeping young people engaged and out of harm's way by transforming empty classrooms and community spaces into safe hubs for mentorship, learning, and paid work.

Read the full feature on our website 👉

By Leslie Vasquez, Mayors Innovation Project While violent crime has declined recently in many cities, summer months can still bring seasonal spikes in violence that disproportionately affect young people. At the same time, summer school …