New from the Village of Broadview, Office of the Mayor Broadview, Illinois
22 April 2025
For Immediate Release
Contact:
David Ormsby
312-342-9638
Mayor Katrina Thompson Attends Mayors’ Academy Anti-Poverty Conference in New York City
(Broadview, IL) – Village of Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson was one of only 12 elected and city officials from across the United States to recently attend the “Mayors’ Neighborhood Academy” – a two-day anti-poverty conference – in New York City.
The Mayors' Neighborhood Academy: One Million Points of Opportunity, an initiative focused on scaling comprehensive, place-based cradle to career strategies and hosted by and the National League of Cities and William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone, brought together mayors to be briefed on neighborhood-based strategies to combat poverty and open pathways to social and economic mobility in their cities and villages, like Broadview.
Thompson and other mayors heard from Harlem Children’s Zone leaders, including CEO Kwame Owusu-Kesse and President and Founder Geoffrey Canada, toured Harlem Children’s Zone sites, and engaged in discussions around how to leverage strategies honed by the Harlem Children’s Zone.
"Participating in the Mayors' Neighborhood Academy underscored the necessity of focusing our efforts on Broadview at the neighborhood level,” said Thompson. “Being briefed on targeted strategies to combat poverty and open pathways to mobility isn't just helpful, it's fundamental to building stronger, more equitable and more prosperous Broadview.”
Thompson joined mayors from cities like Dallas, Cleveland, and Tulsa, OK.
“America's local leaders can have an enormous impact on young people's futures simply by supporting cradle-to-career systems in their communities,” said Clarence E. Anthony, CEO and Executive Director of National League of Cities. “Partnerships like this one with Harlem Children’s Zone give our members a tangible experience of just how transformative these programs can be for our cities, towns, and villages.”
“Mayors are uniquely positioned to catalyze and invest in neighborhood-based strategies that create tangible solutions for parents and children,” said Canada. “By providing coordinated networks of services across education, healthcare, and community engagement in neighborhoods with entrenched generational poverty, cities can provide a real pathway to social and economic mobility.”
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About National League of Cities
National League of Cities (NLC) is the voice of America’s cities, towns, and villages, representing more than 200 million people. NLC works to strengthen local leadership, influence federal policy, and drive innovative solutions.