From Heroes to Collaborators: Redefining Public Innovation for a Better Future

Tommi Laitio is the inaugural Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. The fellowship is an opportunity for innovative public sector leaders to take two years to reflect on their work and develop new knowledge.

Tommi Laitio brings to the fellowship a decade of senior city leadership experience from Helsinki. He joined the City of Helsinki as Director of Youth Affairs and was later elected as the first Executive Director of Culture and Leisure – with an overall responsibility for arts and culture, sports, public library, and youth work. Before joining the government, he worked for a think tank in Helsinki, ran a youth video festival in Amsterdam, and worked as a newspaper journalist.

During his two-year fellowship at Johns Hopkins, he speaks and writes on his experience in public service and carries out new international research on the skills and practices local governments need for building partnerships for parks and public libraries.

Laitio holds an MA in Political Science from University of Helsinki and an EMBA from Aalto University.

Kira Strong is the Executive Director of Rebuild, the City of Philadelphia’s historic investment of over $500 million in parks, recreation centers, and libraries throughout the city. Strong was named Executive Director in early 2020 after serving as Deputy Director of Design & Construction for Rebuild. The program focuses on physical improvements, promoting economic inclusion by ensuring diverse businesses have access to work on Rebuild sites, and engaging residents and stakeholders to help determine the future of their facilities.

Kira previously served as the Vice President of Community and Economic Development at the People’s Emergency Center Community Development Corporation. Strong supervised the nonprofit’s activities in five neighborhoods as it completed $65 million in real estate and economic developments. Prior to that Kira managed federally funded programs for the School District of Philadelphia.

Susan Pettifer is the Director for People, Performance and Technology at the City of Sydney. She is a senior executive with skills in organisational development, modernisation and organisational reform and has experience in the state public and local government sectors.

As part of the Executive team at the City of Sydney, Susan is responsible for leading the people, customer, service development, data and technology functions – with a focus on joining up the people, process and technology components of organisational change to create sustainable reform.

Susan has a strong interest in creating fair and connected organisations and communities. In 2016 she co-authored a book – New Women, New Men, New Economy – on how Creativity, Diversity, Openness and Equity helps organisations thrive in the new economy. Under her leadership the City was awarded the 2019 HR Award for Best Workplace Diversity and Inclusion program.

Susan has post graduate qualifications in science, management and coaching psychology.

Terrance is a Public Innovation Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins and former Innovation Director of the City of Mobile, Alabama. He is the founding director of the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Initiatives and serves on the Leadership Alabama Commission on Race and Equity. Terrance’s work reducing blighted properties in Mobile by 53 percent has been recognized by Fast Company, and he has been named one of Mobile Bay Magazine’s Top Forty Under Forty and one of six “CityLab Innovators to Watch” by Bloomberg Cities. Terrance is committed to fostering community growth through mentoring local youth, serving on multiple boards, and building relationships with local, national, and global leaders. As a Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow, he will lead research to help public innovation leaders worldwide better capture emerging opportunities that advance equity and improve quality of life. Terrance lives by the motto, “Make Mistakes, Make Improvements, Never Make Excuses!”