Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced on May 18 that the City has hired its first Innovation Team (i-team), funded by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, to design and implement solutions that improve the lives of residents. The i-team, led by Garcia and City Manager Pat West, will function as an in-house research and development unit, moving from one city priority to the next. The i-team will focus first on economic development, advising the City on how best to stimulate growth, create jobs and leverage City resources, including through online delivery of City services.
“The City of Long Beach is focused on innovative economic development for the 21st Century,” said Mayor Garcia. “We are honored and grateful to Michael Bloomberg and his team at Bloomberg Philanthropies for providing the resources to put this amazing team together.”
The i-team will also help the City develop and implement solutions to improve city services, enhance civic engagement and improve neighborhoods and business districts, among other efforts.
Implementing Bloomberg Philanthropies’ tested Innovation Delivery approach and its interdisciplinary skill set, the i-team will use a data-driven process to assess problems, generate solutions and deliver measurable results, according to the City.
The City of Long Beach will receive $3 million over three years from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The new i-team includes: Innovation Team Director John Keisler; Innovation Deputy Ryan Murray; researcher Holly Okonkwo; programmer Alex Chavez; Innovation fellows Alma Castro, Eric Romero and Heidi Wiersma; and Designmatters Fellow Chase Airmet.
Long Beach was one of more than 90 cities invited to apply for the grant in August 2014. Garcia announced at his State of the City address that the i-team would be a key component of his economic development strategy and would better connect residents to City services through technology.
In addition to the grants, cities receive implementation support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and opportunities to exchange lessons learned and best practices with peers in other cities. Innovation team grants will also go to the U.S. cities of Albuquerque, NM; Boston, MA; Centennial, CO; Jersey City, NJ; Los Angeles, CA; Mobile, AL; Minneapolis, MN; Peoria, IL; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; and Syracuse, NY. They will also travel to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
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.
