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Talk By New Orleans 'Turnaround' Mayor Kicks Off Innovator-In-Residence Program

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will speak about his role in reinvigorating the Louisiana port city in a talk at Duke University on Monday, Nov. 28.

The 5:30 p.m. talk, “Transforming Cities Through Innovation,” is a Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture. The event, which is open to the public, will take place in Fleishman Commons at the Sanford School of Public Policy, and will kick off the Sanford School’s Innovator-in-Residence program.

Landrieu was voted “America’s top turnaround mayor” in a survey of mayors by POLITICO Magazine, for leading efforts on public health, infrastructure and against gun violence. Landrieu first took office in 2010. He is serving his second term as the elected leader of a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and impacted by the BP oil rig explosion in 2010.

Landrieu will be interviewed by Sean Reilly, former Louisiana state representative and current CEO of Lamar Advertising. Reilly is a member of the Sanford School Board of Visitors.

“We are delighted that Mayor Landrieu will help us kick off our new Innovator-in-Residence program,” said Sanford School Dean Kelly Brownell. “Our goal with this program is to engage students and faculty with creative and ingenious leaders to work across government, business and nonprofit sectors, producing innovative ways to improve government and address major social challenges.”

Landrieu’s efforts to promote an entrepreneurial mindset in local government have helped transform New Orleans into one of America’s top urban innovation labs, Brownell said.

“His unwavering commitment to creative problem solving embodies the kind of qualities we hope to nurture and develop in the next generation of leaders,” Brownell added.

A three-year pilot of the Sanford Innovator-in-Residence program is supported by Duke benefactors Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Carl Spielvogel. The first innovator in residence will be announced soon.

The Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture, which brings notable leaders to speak on Duke’s campus, is sponsored by the Sanford School. The Landrieu lecture is co-sponsored by POLIS: The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation, and Service.