November 6, 2011

Mayor Emanuel Announces Micheal Negron Will Lead City's Innovation Delivery Team Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that Humboldt Park native Michael Negron will serve as the Director of Chicago's Innovation Delivery Team. Innovation Delivery Teams help mayors develop and deliver powerful solutions to major urban challenges. Chicago has received an investment of $6 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies to support the team, and will raise an additional $3 million from private donors.

The Innovation Delivery Team will focus on two priority issues: reducing the time Chicagoans spend in line to access City services, and creating Energy Efficiency Target Zones throughout Chicago to significantly reduce energy use and save money for Chicago families. Driving efficiencies in these areas will help fulfill Mayor Emanuel’s campaign promise to deliver high-quality services to Chicago residents at a lower cost.

“I am excited that Michael has accepted the challenge to lead our Innovation Delivery Team,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I’m committed to ensuring that City government does not stand in the way of job creation and innovation – this team will help create and implement reforms that will help us to more effectively deliver better services to taxpayers for less.”

Michael has spent the last two and a half years in the Obama administration where, while at the White House Office of Management and Budget, he helped improve and streamline the President’s executive order review process, and worked on a number of initiatives designed to improve federal government processes.  As the first staff member hired by Elizabeth Warren for the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Michael played a leading role in establishing the organization, hiring staff, and creating its internal processes for conducting oversight and producing its reports to Congress.  He most recently served as a Special Counsel to the Department of Defense General Counsel, where he worked on a wide range of issues including treaty law, cybersecurity and information operations, sexual assault in the military and general litigation matters. He previously served in the Navy as a commissioned officer.

Michael earned his JD at Harvard Law School, where he co-founded the Harvard Law & Policy Review, the national journal for the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. Michael earned his Masters degree at the University of Memphis and his Bachelor's degree at Georgetown University. Michael grew up as the youngest of two children in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood.

About Innovation Delivery Teams

Innovation Delivery Teams help mayors effectively design and implement solutions to pressing city challenges. The teams, comprised of high-performing staff, will generate innovative solutions, develop implementation plans, and manage progress towards defined targets. Bloomberg Philanthropies will fund the salaries of these staff members and provide a range of support for the project’s duration. Bloomberg Philanthropies is funding Innovation Delivery Teams through three-year grants in Memphis, Chicago, Atlanta, Louisville and New Orleans. In each city, the Innovation Delivery Teams will focus on top priority issues identified by City Hall.

The Innovation Delivery Team will deliver its initial progress update to the public within the next 6 months, with continued reporting over the next three years.

The Innovation Delivery Team model draws from successful approaches used around the world, from New York City, where Mayor Bloomberg established teams to develop and implement bold anti-poverty, sustainability, and efficiency agendas, to the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Tony Blair formed the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit to achieve impact in transportation, education, health and criminal justice.

 

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