The City of Atlanta announced that Mayor Kasim Reed participated in the Yale Mayors College on June 7, 2017 and the Yale CEO Summit on June 8, 2017. The Yale Mayors College is a peer-driven roundtable bringing together mayors from leading cities across the U.S. with scholars in healthcare policy, urban sociology and history. It offers an interactive environment that explores case studies from participants and other global cities.
 
Mayor Reed joined other mayors and approximately 150 global CEOs for the linked Yale CEO Summit, which encourages business leaders, policy makers and academics to engage in candid, off-the-record exchanges. The theme for the summit was “Fortifying or Forgetting Forecasting: Can We Ever Plan Accurately?”
 
“It was a pleasure to participate in the Yale Mayors College and CEO Summit discussions which explored today’s complex challenges and highlighted innovative solutions to addressing them,” said Mayor Reed. “I appreciated the opportunity to exchange ideas and share best practices, and would like to thank the Yale School of Management for the invitation to this roundtable event.”
 
Mayor Reed participated in a roundtable discussion about fiscal responsibility and financial stability. Other session participants include Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, and Minot, North Dakota Mayor Chuck Barney. The facilitator for the discussion was former United States Comptroller General David Walker. Ned Lamont, founder and chairman of Lamont Digital Services, and Charles E.F. Millard, former director of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, also offered their professional insights during the roundtable discussion.

Other topics of the Mayors College included private and public entrepreneurship, community engagement, public safety, technology and economic and cultural renewal. The CEO Summit addressed business development, economic growth, healthcare and consumer and community values.
 
After taking office during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Mayor Reed has put Atlanta in its strongest financial position in 40 years. Mayor Reed led pension reform legislation saving the City of Atlanta $270 million over 10 years. In addition, the City has balanced seven consecutive budgets while building cash reserves from $7.4 million when he took office to more than $175 million today. He has accomplished this without once raising property taxes. The City of Atlanta has also received nine credit-rating increases to AA+, the second highest rating a city can have.