New program invites experienced practitioners from diverse fields to join an inaugural cohort, advance innovative projects, and contribute to the Bloomberg Center for Cities’ community.

The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University is inviting experienced practitioners and experts from diverse fields to apply for the inaugural Bloomberg Harvard Visiting Fellows Program, a new semester-long opportunity to advance innovative projects that can strengthen local government and city leadership. Visiting Fellows will join the Center’s community of scholars, practitioners, and students, bringing expertise and ideas from their professional work while drawing on Harvard’s research, interdisciplinary expertise, and institutional networks to advance their projects. Projects may take different forms—from research, writing, or convenings, to developing practical tools or building initiatives and networks that extend the Center’s work beyond Harvard. Applicants should bring a specific, feasible project with the potential to generate insights, tools, or approaches that benefit local government and city leaders.

The program welcomes expert practitioners in urban problem-solving and government innovation, including former public servants, civic and community leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators from nonprofit, philanthropic, private-sector, and other organizations. Applicants should have a demonstrated record of developing and implementing solutions to complex urban challenges. Those with prior government experience must be at least 18 months removed from their most recent  government role at the time of application.

Visiting Fellows will remain based in their home communities while participating in a semester-long exchange with the Center, including three planned visits to Harvard. Throughout the fellowship, they will engage with faculty, students, researchers, and fellow practitioners, bringing their expertise into the Center’s research, teaching, and broader intellectual community.

“Some of the most valuable knowledge about urban problem-solving comes from the people doing the work in cities,” said Jorrit de Jong, Director of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. “Universities have an important role to play in helping experts develop and share that knowledge and connect it to research and teaching. Alongside our Visiting Scholars Program, the Bloomberg Harvard Visiting Fellows Program will help us broaden and strengthen the field of urban problem-solving.”

This is the inaugural year of the Bloomberg Harvard Visiting Fellows Program. Over time, the Center aims to build a global community of Visiting Fellows whose expertise, projects, and insights strengthen urban problem-solving and city leadership.

Applications are now open. Learn more and apply by December 11 here.

About the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University

The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University advances research, leadership development, and cross-sector collaboration to improve the practice of city governance. Through partnerships with city leaders, applied research initiatives, student engagement, and global convenings, the Center works to strengthen local government and expand opportunity in cities around the world.

Media Contact:
Jessicah Pierre, Senior Director of Communications and Engagement
Jessicah_pierre@harvard.edu | (617) 401-1470