Steven Bosacker directs the GMF Cities program for the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).  The urban portfolio supports local-level policymakers and practitioners in North America and Europe by facilitating the transatlantic exchange of knowledge for building inclusive, sustainable, and globally engaged cities.

Before joining GMF, Steven was the Principal for Public Sector & Partnerships at Living Cities, where he focused on finding and furthering promising practices in large city governments to get better results for low-income people.  The public sector innovation portfolio included projects such as the City Accelerator, Civic Tech & Data Collaborative, and Racial Equity Here, an initiative devoted to operationalizing racial equity in city government operations.  Living Cities, in partnership with Governing magazine, also advanced an integrated, collaborative framework for building innovative urban futures called Equipt to Innovate.

Until 2012, Bosacker served as the City Coordinator for the City of Minneapolis where he championed accountability and transparency in services across municipal government. He was instrumental in advancing public-private cooperation including the development of the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District and oversaw the implementation of Minneapolis 311. Bosacker also created Results Minneapolis, a comprehensive management system that drove and tracked progress on the City’s long-term goals.

Bosacker began his public service career in the office of U.S. Congressman Tim Penny as a legislative assistant on education and labor issues, eventually rising to the position of Chief of Staff.

After leaving Rep. Penny, Bosacker spent four years as the Executive Director and Corporate Secretary for the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents. In this position, he supported the Board in all matters pertaining to the effective governance of the University of Minnesota including leading a presidential transition for the university in 1998.

He left the University of Minnesota to lead Governor Jesse Ventura’s transition team and ultimately served as Chief of Staff for the governor where he authored and managed The Big Plan, a comprehensive strategic agenda for the State of Minnesota.

Bosacker then moved to Hamburg, Germany where as a private consultant, he facilitated and incubated new international business connections between the Baltic Sea region of Europe and the midwestern United States.

In 2012-13, Bosacker went on a one-year personal journey around the world that took him to 23 countries and included business visits to India’s Prime Minister Office to discuss accountability systems in government and a similar discussion with the newly-elected Governor of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany.