Setting a new standard for city leadership
The CLP curriculum
This step builds directly on the foundation established in Orientation by turning the focus inward — toward you as a leader.
It provides structured insight into how leaders grow, how leadership effectiveness develops over time, and how personal clarity translates into trusted public influence.
We prepare you with practical frameworks to better understand your own leadership patterns, strengths, and developmental edge — strengthening the alignment between who you are and how you lead.
In this step, you explore leadership development from both an inner and outer, individual and collective perspectives:
This step focuses on the relational dimension of leadership — equipping you with practical tools and frameworks to collaborate effectively within real-world city contexts.
It strengthens your ability to work across differences, engage diverse stakeholders, and navigate power dynamics constructively.
We move from understanding systems to learning how to mobilise people within them.
In this step, you examine what it truly means to lead well with others in environments shaped by competing interests, political pressure, and complex trade-offs:
You will reflect on your own relationship to power and participation:
You will also examine case studies of civic cooperation and community transformation — learning how leaders in other cities have mobilised collective intelligence and participatory approaches to solve complex challenges.
In this step, you reflect on the full arc of your learning.
You will revisit key insights from across the program and consider questions such as:
You will retake the Leadership Maturity Assessment Profile completed at the start of the program. This provides a comparative view of your leadership development — allowing you to observe shifts in perspective, coherence, and action logic.
You will also return to the “breakthrough year” vision you shaped in Step 1.
From this vantage point, you begin shaping:
This step also creates intentional space to reconnect with peers — identifying those you wish to build meaningful partnerships with beyond the program.
To support your transition, you will receive a dedicated 30-minute integration session with a professionally trained leadership development coach. This session helps you process your reflections, clarify next steps, and connect back into the wider Global Mayors Academy ecosystem for continued support.
This final stage of the City Leaders Program brings your learning into lived experience.
We host a 5-day immersive, in-person learning and graduation journey in either Switzerland (Global North) or the Western Cape Province of South Africa (Global South). These gatherings are intentionally designed to honour cultural diversity, local wisdom, and place-based innovation.
For participants unable to attend in person, a dedicated online integration and graduation event is hosted following the immersive journeys — ensuring meaningful connection, recognition, and continued engagement.
During the immersive experience, you will:
For those joining online, the one-day virtual gathering provides:
Lead 1 or more real-world projects that create visible impact in your city—while you learn.
Choose from 6 powerful project options during Orientation, get step-by-step frameworks, global peer support, and expert guidance all the way.
You’re encouraged to invite your city teams and colleagues to join you in the project work.
This part of the journey is designed to include them—and help build their skills too.
Participate in hands-on workshops and collaborative spaces outside the core sessions, where peer learning and city-specific strategy design take center stage.
Reach out to an advisor if you need to clarify anything that may still be unclear.
Connect with a program advisor for a 1:1 session