Growing Urban Network

How are you connected to the people and organizations leading urban innovation in your city community?

CityLab changed how I think about my network. I previously tended to separate my professional, academic, family, and community relationships. The course framework helped me recognize that my network includes personal, academic, professional, affiliation-based, and intentional relationships, and that meaningful change often occurs when leaders connect people across those boundaries.

My professional network includes people across engineering, operations, program management, leadership, and other functions. Johns Hopkins has expanded that network to classmates, faculty, alumni, and professionals from industries outside my own. My community involvement connects me with local government, schools, parents, families, youth organizations, and other community stakeholders.

The opportunity for me is to become more intentional about connecting these networks. Urban innovation requires boundary-spanning leadership because no single business, government agency, nonprofit, university, or community group can solve complex problems alone. I want to continue building relationships with civic leaders, planners, businesses, community organizations, and residents so that I can learn from perspectives outside my normal professional environment and become a stronger collaborative leader.