With FullConTech approaching, we’re exploring organizations that focus on civic collaboration and innovation. One group that’s supporting and inspiring new approaches is Bloomberg Philanthropies, established by businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Philanthropies provides grants to cities around the world to staff and fund data-driven Innovation Teams, known as “i-teams,” for up to three years. The grants recognize city leaders’ increasing focus on innovation as “a mindset and a process to help solve challenging problems and improve the lives of the people they serve.” Innovation is fast becoming an “essential capability,” and Bloomberg Philanthropies helps city leaders be bolder in their efforts to invent new ways to tackle big problems.

The first i-team grant – for $24 million – was awarded in 2013 and split among five cities:  Atlanta, Chicago, Louisville, Memphis, and New Orleans. The cities’ i-teams focused their efforts on a variety of projects. In New Orleans, for example, the i-team worked to lower the city’s murder rate 20% in two years, and in Memphis, the i-team developed an approach to filling 53% of empty storefronts in key commercial areas, helping to reinvigorate the city’s downtown.

In 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies increased the i-team grant amount to $45 million, distributing it to 12 cities, one of which was Seattle. Mayor Murray launched the Seattle Innovation Team in June 2015, and its first project was to address disparities for young black men—helping create more opportunities for them and improve safety in their communities. The team’s current focus is homelessness, with an emphasis on youth and young adults.

Boston also received a grant in 2014, and the city’s mayor, Marty Walsh, asked his i-team to develop new ways to provide middle-income housing, so that as Boston grows, it can be a place “that all residents can call home.” In collaboration with the Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston’s i-team has conducted 300 community meetings and discussed best practices with over 15 other cities, in an effort to apply a human-centered design approach that directly engages the community. The goal is to understand residents’ needs and work with them to develop solutions.

Currently, the Boston i-team is testing a variety of possibilities, from micro-units to density bonuses, to increase people’s acceptance of higher-density living. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, “If successful, the i-team’s initiatives will be brought to scale, significantly contributing to the Mayor’s ambitious plan to make Boston a city with a robust supply of affordable housing for middle-income households by 2018.”

The progress the i-team has made has led Mayor Walsh to expand his civic innovation efforts and create the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, the city’s “R&D team” and a leading force around the world in promoting civic collaboration. Nigel Jacob, director of Boston’s i-team and co-founder of New Urban Mechanics, will be the keynote speaker at FullConTech on May 22.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced its third round of Innovation Team grant recipients: Anchorage, Austin, Baltimore, Detroit, and Durham in the U.S.; Be’er Shiva in Israel; and Toronto in Canada.

To explore ways your organization could work with the Seattle i-team, contact the group at innovationteam@seattle.gov. You can also look for Hannah Hill, the i-team’s project manager and a FullConTech Advisory Committee member, at FullConTech, on May 22, at Seattle City Hall.