Kenney heads to Harvard

With just under a month until he takes office in City Hall, mayor-elect Jim Kenney is still seeking out new ways to educate himself.

Kenney will be traveling to Cambridge, Massachusetts this week to participated at the Harvard Institute of PoliticsSeminar on Transition and Leadership for Newly-Elected Mayors.

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For Kenney, who holds a bachelor’s degree from La Salle University and will formally take office as mayor on Jan. 4, it’s a chance to learn from other urban leaders.

“As part of the transition process, my team and I have considered policies and management tactics from urban areas all over the country,” Kenney said in a statement released by his campaign team. “This conference presents a unique opportunity to hear directly from our nation’s top experts and other mayors on their experiences.”

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The three-day, invitation-only conference is “off the record” and closed to the media. Kenney’s travel expenses, meals, and lodging costs will bepaid for by the Institute of Politics, which is a division of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

Mayor Michael Nutter has participated in the event in the past as a speaker, as have former mayors from cities like Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland and New Orleans.

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Kenney, a City Councilmanfrom 1992 until retiringto run for mayor in 2014,will participate in workshops on topics such as “transitioning from the campaign to City Hall, finance and administration, economic development and competitiveness, the tech and data-driven city and attracting the Millennial generation to cities,” according to his campaign.

Kenney will be at the conference from Wednesday, Dec. 9 to Friday, Dec. 11.