Anchorage – Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies recognized the Municipality of Anchorage as a new member of its Innovation Team program. “I-team” helps local governments drive bold innovation, change government culture, and tackle big problems to deliver better results for residents. Anchorage was selected from a pool of cities with a demonstrated commitment to designing and delivering bold solutions to complex problems. Other cities selected for the global program include Austin, TX; Durham; NC; Detroit, MI; Baltimore, MD; Be’er Sheva, Israel; and Toronto, Canada.
“The grant reflects confidence in Anchorage's ability to innovate and to deliver more efficient and accessible municipal services,” stated Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
The program will fund an in-house innovation team supporting efforts to design solutions with clear goals, and measure progress to improve residents’ lives. Each city will be awarded up to $500,000 annually for up to three years. In addition to the grants, the city will receive implementation support and opportunities to exchange lessons learned and best practices with peers in other cities. The Anchorage i-team will embark on their mission to design and deliver solutions for two of the Anchorage’s most challenging problems: employee health care costs and neighborhood revitalization focused on workforce development and affordable housing.
“The Anchorage i-team will increase capacity to work on complex problems like health care costs, work force development, and affordable housing,” said Anchorage CIO Brendan Babb.
More information about the Innovation Team Program is available through the Bloomberg Philanthropies website.
For more information, contact Myer Hutchinson at (907) 343-7133.
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