The Urban and Regional Policy Program of The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) was awarded funds from the Surdna Foundation to build additional capacity and expand the impact of the White House Strong Cities Strong Communities (SC2) Fellowship Program within each of the seven pilot cities — Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio; Chester, Pennsylvania; New Orleans, Louisiana; Detroit, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; and Fresno, California.

To meet this goal in each of these cities, the SC2 Leadership Activities Initiative built civic capacity, engaged and connected local stakeholders, and encouraged innovative thinking around economic development and community revitalization strategies. GMF designed three activities under the initiative to link and leverage the efforts of the local leaders, the SC2 federal team, and SC2 fellows in each city.

The report summarizes the activities and impact of the SC2 Leadership activities across the seven SC2 cities.