More than 3,000 city officials and professional staff will convene in San Antonio this week for the National League of Cities’ annual conference at the Henry B. González Convention Center.
“City Summit includes educational content on pressing challenges facing city leaders and numerous networking activities in and around the host city,” according to a press release. The largest educational and networking event for city officials travels to different major U.S. cities each year. “Attendees will hear from prominent speakers and issue experts, participate in leadership training sessions, attend issue-specific workshops and engage in mobile workshops held throughout the city.”
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the Nov. 20-23 summit will be an opportunity to showcase San Antonio’s own award-winning policies and learn from other cities to improve others.
“It puts San Antonio on the map,” Nirenberg said. “Even though we don’t always toot our own horn, San Antonio has been a thought leader in some of the important municipal policymaking that’s happening around the country to deal with issues from environmental sustainability to housing to diverse populations and economic mobility.”
Just last week, San Antonio was awarded a gold medal in a national report on urban policymaking by CityHealth for policies that improve the health and well-being of its residents.
Nirenberg is on the lineup for the opening session and will be on several panels including one on how nature can help cities fight climate change.
San Antonio’s trauma-informed care initiatives also will be spotlighted during City Summit on Friday as Assistant City Manager Colleen Bridger will give a talk on how childhood traumas increase a person’s risk for chronic disease and detail the City’s journey toward becoming a certified Trauma Informed Care Community.
Also on the packed schedule: racial equity practitioners and city leaders, including San Antonio’s Chief Equity Officer Zan Gibbs, will talk about embedding equity in city operations.
This year City Summit will feature keynote speakers Common, the Oscar and Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist and author, and Peter Kageyama, author and community consultant.
The summit also serves as a forum for National League of Cities members to select officers and board members to lead the group in 2020. Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran (D3) serves as a 2019 board member and will appear on several panels.
A full list of registration rates is available online here. Discounts apply to students, National League of Cities members, and first-time attendees.
