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Oklahoma City selected to join national What Works Cities initiative

Post Date:06/16/2017 9:46 AM

Mayor Mick Cornett announced Friday that the City of Oklahoma City has been selected as one of three new cities to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities (WWC) initiative, one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance the use of data and evidence in the public sector.

The City will receive technical assistance from world-class experts to build capacity to address local issues. Examples of how the initiative has helped other local governments are showcased in a digital magazine released Friday, “What Works Cities: How Local Governments Are Changing Lives.”

WWC Executive Director Simone Brody announced the City’s selection, along with New Haven, Conn., and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., at an event Friday in New York City.

“We are proud to welcome these new members to our growing movement of leaders committed to using 21st-century tools to solve their cities’ challenges,” said Brody. “Across the country, What Works cities are drawing on insights gleaned from data to make better, fact-based decisions about how to determine priorities, allocate resources, deliver services and, ultimately, improve the lives of the residents they serve.”

WWC now partners with 80 cities in 36 states that are home to 26 million people and collectively have annual budgets of more than $92 billion. WWC plans to partner with 100 cities on a rolling basis through next year.

WWC aims to identify more effective ways to evaluate programs, improve performance, use resources and address social challenges.

The Behavioral Insights Team, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, the Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, Results for America and the Sunlight Foundation are the organizations assembled by Bloomberg Philanthropies to deliver support programs to participating cities.

About Bloomberg Philanthropies

Bloomberg Philanthropies works in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2016, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed over half a billion dollars. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org.

About What Works Cities

What Work Cities, launched in April 2015, is one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance cities’ use of data and evidence. Through the initiative’s expert partners, which are providing technical assistance to 100 cities on a rolling basis through 2018, cities around the country are receiving support, guidance and resources to succeed. In 2016, What Works Cities was named by Forbes as “one of the ten most promising philanthropic bets” of the year and by Engaging Local Government Leaders as the “most important company operating in the local government arena.” In March 2017, the initiative launched What Works Cities Certification, the first-ever national standard for data-driven governance. For more information, visit whatworkscities.org.