As new mayors prepare to take their top dog jobs in cities across the country, brand new High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson announced on Wednesday, Dec. 6 that he had been selected as one of a group of 27 newly-elected US mayors who will participate in the “Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University’s Program for New Mayors: First 100 Days.”

As a participant in that program, Jefferson will receive training from Harvard faculty, urban innovation and management teams and sitting mayors – and Jefferson and other new mayors will learn things like how to “set strategic citywide priorities, build effective city hall organizations and deliver for residents,” according to a December 6 press release from High Point announcing the honor.

Jefferson said he was delighted by the very valuable opportunity.

“An effective mayor has to connect stakeholders and champion the vision for the path forward,” Jefferson stated in the press release. “I am proud to be selected to join the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard’s Program for New Mayors: First 100 Days. I’m eager to learn creative ways to solve difficult problems with my peers from across the country. I want to strengthen our community and deliver solutions to High Point residents’ most pressing challenges while maximizing opportunities that present themselves.”

The Bloomberg Center program is designed to help new mayors make the most of their positions.  It’s geared toward helping the mayors learn leadership and management skills that lead to teamwork and progress among city management from the very start of a new administration..

Jefferson will join 26 other newly elected mayors for the experience at Harvard. In addition to the coursework and the connection with new and sitting mayors, the program also allows participants to learn strategies that are already working in other cities to better the lives of residents.

Founded two years ago, the center is part of Bloomberg’s commitment to Harvard University that’s meant “to help bolster the capabilities of mayors and their teams.”

The program is built on the framework of a longstanding seminar for new mayors that was started at the university’s Institute of Politics in 1975.