Leading Cities is a global non-profit organization with a mission to drive resiliency and sustainability in cities worldwide.
“Leading Cities is a global non-profit that exists to partner with city leaders to support their transition to smarter, more sustainable and resilient communities. If we can be of assistance to you and your community, please connect with us.”
MICHAEL LAKE, PRESIDENT AND CEO
We work with municipal governments to identify and connect local priorities with globally sourced solutions vetted by experts. We also help smart and resilient city startups prepare to deploy successfully in local communities.
Leading Cities reduces the risk and cost of innovation for local governments. Founded 13 years ago, we were a pioneer of the smart and resilient city movement. We started by connecting cities, but now we not only connect cities with each other but build bridges between municipal governments and entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions for the challenges that cities face in the 21st century. Our signature programme, AcceliCITY, has become one of the largest and most successful smart and resilient city accelerator programmes in the world. Annually we vet over 500 startups in more than 40 countries. We offer cities help to design global competitions for finding and selecting innovative solutions. Through our AcceliGOV program, we provide cities worldwide with the ability to compete for no-cost pilot projects.
PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES
• Reduce the risk and cost of innovation in local governments.
• Connect municipal governments and innovative solutions.
• Share best practices between cities.
• Provide global expertise to plan, develop and deploy
smart and resilient strategies for cities.
KEY PROJECTS
• AcceliCITY. One of the world’s largest, most successful accelerator programmes, AcceliCITY connects cities with innovative solutions. Each year we partner with a handful of cities to offer customized Smart Challenges through which they can globally source and vet solutions that meet their needs.
• AcceliGOV. We provide cities with opportunities to compete for no-cost pilot projects.
• Consulting. We offer an array of consulting services and expertise to support the various dimensions of smart cities and the phases of their development.
• LaunchPad 11. This programme delivers a virtual co-working space for companies that focus on SDG 11 as well as access to an international business, mentorship, networking, and education community.
Phone: +1-617-506-3499