Leadership initiative aims to help Israel’s mayors deliver equitable public services

Specifically, the year-long programme will seek to build critical capabilities in fostering collaboration, using data in decision making, negotiation, crisis management, resident engagement, and generating and implementing innovative ideas.

“Israel’s local authorities have a much greater impact on citizens’ lifestyles and quality of life than the central government,” said professor Ariel Porat, president of Tel Aviv University. 

“The quality of sanitation, transportation, welfare, education, and health services mostly depends on the local authority’s performance. This new programme aims to improve the management of local authorities in Israel, thereby enhancing the quality of life of Israelis throughout the country.”

The State of Israel has about 260 cities and towns with mayors. The Bloomberg-Sagol Centre for City Leadership will invite applications and up to 20 mayors will be admitted each year.

Selected mayors will also invite two key members of their team to go through the programme. The first class of mayors will be announced in fall 2022. All expenses for the city hall officials programme participation will be covered by this philanthropic funding through Tel Aviv University.

“The job of mayor requires a vast range of managerial skills at the highest level and in our new programme we intend to equip participants with helpful insights and a useful toolbox for making critical decisions”

The centre will be housed at Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management under the direction of Dean Moshe Zviran, the inaugural faculty director of the Israel City Leadership initiative.

“Mayors are required to make decisions that impact tens or hundreds of thousands of people and manage huge budgets, but most of them lack experience in managing organisations that are as large and complex as a local authority,” added Moshe Zviran. 

“The job of mayor requires a vast range of managerial skills at the highest level and in our new programme we intend to equip participants with helpful insights and a useful toolbox for making critical decisions and implementing innovation in the urban environment. Here they will also learn about developments in other cities, both in Israel and around the world.”