Talent development, attraction and retention are key strategies for any city wanting to be successful in today’s knowledge economy. The issue is especially urgent for the city of New Orleans as it continues to rebuild three years post-Katrina. But what makes a city a magnet for young adults who have a world of choices about where they live? How can a city engage this talent? And how can a city hold on to these individuals?

To help answer these and other questions, CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders dedicated to creating next generation cities, and NOLA YURP, New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals, are hosting the first-ever Urban Next Summit.

Urban Next will convene 100 emerging and established urban leaders for two days, July 24-25, to discuss strategies for growing their cities’ talent pools and putting this talent to use.

“In every city there are passionate advocates, many of whom are young, who are dedicated to improving their cities,” said Carol Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities. “How can urban leaders harness their energy and enthusiasm both to improve the quality of life and to bring more people like them to their cities? And how, on a national level, can we connect these emerging leaders to share ideas and success stories? Those are two big questions on the minds of urban leaders nationally, and we hope this conversation will shed some light on the answers.”

Conference attendees will:

• Hear from and meet a number of distinguished speakers and panelists
• Share and learn about innovative strategies for cities
• Participate in discussion forums to inform others on the work happening in cities
• Connect with emerging and established urban leaders from cities across the nation
• Explore New Orleans as an insider

Topics will include:

• Attraction and retention of talent
• Creating a culture of opportunity
• Advocacy for urban enthusiasts
• Idea generation surrounding current urban challenges and opportunities
• Connecting and engaging innovators in our cities

About the presenters:

CEOs for Cities is a cross-sector network of urban leaders from the civic, corporate, academic and philanthropic sectors exploring the future and inventing next practices for cities. Find out more at www.ceosforcities.org.

The mission of New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals (NOLA YURP) is to create a support network to connect, retain and attract young professionals from diverse backgrounds for a sustainable New Orleans. Find out more at www.nolayurp.com.

For more information, contact Bridget Marquis at bmarquis@ceosforcities.org.

Two days after the Presidential election, CEOs for Cities will convene in Chicago for a special one-day meeting to challenge the President-elect and his transition team to establish a new era of cooperation between the Federal government and America's cities.

At a national press conference during the Nov. 6 meeting, our network of urban leaders will commit itself to innovative bottom-up initiatives and will ask a fresh-start Administration to meet us halfway in a collaborative working relationship to make the best of difficult times.

Representing the nation’s primary source of wealth, employment and global competitiveness, urban leaders will ask for a new attitude from the federal government – an attitude of encouragement and support for nation-building at the grassroots. For its part, CEOs for Cities will roll out at this special session three strategies the organization has derived from years of research into how to grow and to green urban economies.

The three strategies will be detailed at the members-only meeting and later to the press. CEOs' Talent Dividend, Green Dividend, and Core Vitality Dividend show projected urban gross regional product growth – in dollar terms – from progressive improvement in clearly defined areas of human capital development, environmental improvement, and core-city revitalization. This alone makes it a must-attend meeting.

In an era of fiscal constraint at every level of government, CEOs for Cities intends to show two days after election day that its unique membership of city mayors, urban university presidents, business leaders, and city-based philanthropists is a creative problem-solving force that has innovated practical economy-building – and people-building – initiatives worthy of the federal government’s attention and respect.

On Thursday, Nov. 6 we'll convene promptly at 8:30 a.m. with agenda-setting conversations through 3:30 p.m. Plan to join us for a special evening event to kick off the meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. If you can stay an extra day, we have small group meetings on current and future initiatives, including the Creative Cities Network, Friday morning that will wrap up by 1 p.m.

The full agenda will be available in the coming weeks.

For more information, contact Bridget Marquis at bmarquis@ceosforcities.org.

How can cities embrace “the weird, the non-fitters and the noise-makers” to spark new ideas?

Dr. Susanne Justesen, a leading international thinker on the role of diversity for innovation, will join us in New Orleans at our Creative Cities Network Meeting to explore ways to unlock the potential for creativity and innovation to strengthen cities.

Susanne is founder of the Innoversity Network in Denmark and will be our guest speaker in New Orleans July 24.

Members of the CEOs for Cities network are invited to attend the second in a series of network meetings that seek to uncover how to unlock the potential of people and assets for success.

For more information, download the meeting agenda here or contact Rebecca Eggleston at reggleston@ceosforcities.org.

Too many urban leaders still operate under old assumptions when it comes to planning for their cities' futures. In her speech to the Tennssessee Municipal League, CEOs for Cities president and CEO Carol Coletta, discusses what leaders must pay attention to today and how they must respond to new realities affecting our communities. Read her comments by downloading the PDF file below.

Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still recovering from a storm that destroyed 80 percent of the city. While many are still struggling, New Orleans has also attracted thousands of young people from diverse backgrounds, who are passionate about rebuilding an American city in a more equitable way. By creating coalitions of talented young people in the private and public sector who work together, New Orleans is engaging urban enthusiasts in the rebuilding process.

While New Orleans has a unique opportunity to build its talent pool, what makes a city a magnet for passionate young people? How can a city engage this talent? And how can a city hold onto these individuals in the future?

We invite you to participate in the Urban Next Summit to help answer these questions. This special opportunity to join the national conversation on cities will take place in a city where young people from diverse backgrounds have been instrumental in the rebuilding process. While exploring a number of city issues together, this gathering will be organized to facilitate meaningful connections between emerging and established leaders.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to:

• Hear from and meet a number of distinguished speakers and panelists
• Share and learn about innovative strategies for cities
• Participate in discussion forums to inform others on the work happening in cities
• Connect with emerging and established urban leaders from cities across the nation
• Explore New Orleans as an insider

Topics will include:

• Attraction and retention of talent
• Creating a culture of opportunity
• Advocacy for urban enthusiasts
• Idea generation surrounding current urban challenges and opportunities
• Messaging for cities
• Connecting innovators to our cities

Apply to be part of the Urban Next Summit by clicking here. Applications are due by June 15, 2008. View the draft agenda here.

If you have any questions please contact Bridget Marquis at bmarquis@ceosforcities.org.

Seventy-two percent of political donors strongly agree that America cannot be strong without strong cities, and they view cities as the solution for some of the country's most pressing problems, including job growth and development, according to a new survey released today by CEOs for Cities and Living Cities. See Celinda Lake's presentation on the findings below:

Download the press release here.

Be sure to mark your calendar for our next National Meeting in Chicago - a day-long meeting on November 6 to review election results and their implications for cities. More to come on the agenda, speakers and hotel information.

A new analysis shows that high gas prices are not only implicated in the bursting of the housing bubble, but that the higher cost of commuting has already re-shaped the landscape of real estate value between cities and suburbs. Housing values are falling fastest in distant suburban and exurban neighborhoods where affordability depended directly on cheap gas. Read the press release here. Download the full study here.

We can have two different reactions to an economic recession: panic or plan. We can panic, pull in our horns and hang on for dear life. Or we can think past the current trauma and look ahead to think about the world we'll be competing in once the storm passes. People in the technology industry talk about inflection points, where fundamental change reshapes markets. Cities can clearly see a coming inflection point-driven by economic challenges, globalization, and climate change. What can city leaders do today to position their cities not simply to survive, but to thrive, as these changes unfold?

That's the issue we'll address at our next National Meeting, May 13-14 in Pittsburgh on Next Generation Cities: Finding New Sources of Strength in Tough Times.

RSVP now for this meeting by downloading the agenda complete with RSVP information. REMINDER: THIS MEETING IS FOR CEOS FOR CITIES MEMBERS ONLY.

Questions? Email Kristian Buschmann at kbuschmann@ceosforcities.org.

How can city leaders use design to foster the "happy accidents" that come from idea sharing and innovation?

That's the question we'll begin to answer when CEOs for Cities with Steelcase hosts "Places of Innovation" at the Steelcase Global Headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI, February 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The full agenda can be found here.

Open to members only, please contact Kristian Buschmann at kbuschmann@ceosforcities.org for more information. RSVPs are requested by January 25.