Bloomberg Center of Public Innovation Kansas City, MO
Overview
The Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University (the Center) seeks a Director to lead a new Kansas City Innovation Team (“i-team”).
Innovation Teams unlock creativity from within city governments and the communities they serve. These teams take partners and stakeholders through an evidence-based process to tackle the big problems in their cities no one has yet been able to solve, generate more ambitious responses, and test and adapt interventions until they produce impact. They also work closely with the Mayor, the city's leadership team, and city departments to change the culture of city government.
Kansas City is one of 25 U.S. cities joining Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities (https://www.bloomberg.org/environment/supporting-sustainable-cities/bloomberg-american-sustainable-cities/). Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities is a three-year initiative designed to leverage historic levels of federal funding to incubate and implement transformative local solutions to build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities. Building on the longtime leadership of U.S. cities to confront the overlapping crises of climate change and racial wealth inequity, the new initiative will provide deep support to selected cities to pursue transformative solutions.
The Director is charged with leading the Kansas City's i-team's work on Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities. The Director works closely with the mayor and their leadership team, as well as departmental staff, external experts, community organizations, and residents to ensure the i-team is delivering impactful solutions. The Director is an employee of Johns Hopkins University and based in Kansas City City Hall. They report to a senior government official.
The first of its kind in the world, the Center aims to advance the field of public sector innovation by marrying cutting-edge practice with world class research in order to transform the culture of government, deliver exceptional results for residents, and inspire trust in public service.
The Center is committed to working with communities that are focused on ending legacies of structural, entrenched racism and oppression. The Director must be willing to think about reimagined government, knowledge, and engagement models through the lens of dismantling these legacies.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
Lead an equity-centered, design-based innovation approach to problem-solving that focuses on identifying root causes of civic challenges in partnership with residents, community organizations, and other stakeholders
Collaborate with city government colleagues and community organizations to co-create and manage bold, innovative solutions to jointly drive climate action and advance racial wealth equity; including greenhouse gas reduction strategies
Effectively manage the diverse skill sets of the i-team and leverage available technical expertise to maximize creativity and impact
Maintain strong relationships and foster collaboration among a broad set of stakeholders, including senior government officials and private sector and nonprofit leaders in the community
Engage and collaborate deeply with local community organizations dedicated to promoting climate equity strategies that promote racial equity and economic inclusion
Strengthen the capacity of city government colleagues, community-based organizations and other stakeholders to work together to co-create and implement transformative solutions
Inspire the i-team to challenge the status quo and encourage creative ways to overcome roadblocks
Ensure that there are clear and appropriate implementation plans for delivery on all major initiatives
Oversee the development of targets and regular measurement of progress
Achieve defined targets by monitoring performance and correcting course when needed
Participate in a national network of civic-sector innovation experts to advance the field and make visible your city's work
Communicate progress to stakeholders, including regular reporting to the mayor
Oversee the timely development and submission of high¬-quality grant deliverables
Share the team's strategic framework and best practices for innovation throughout city government
Actively collaborate with the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, a set of program partners, i-teams in your cohort, and other i-team grantee
Salary & Total Rewards
i-team Directors across the country will be compensated in a range of $115,400 - $202,000. This range will be further adjusted to each city location, taking into account local market and cost of living data.