Tackling Blight Together: Shreveport's Collaborative Journey with Bloomberg Harvard

As part of the City's participation in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative program, a group of community leaders were assembled in December 2024 to provide initial feedback on the challenges associated with blight in Shreveport. This group consisted of diverse community leaders from the fields of business, clergy, non-profit organizations, and local government. Their role was to provide, during a 4-hour working session, critical insights, shape priorities, and ensure the initiative reflected the real needs and aspirations of Shreveport residents.

From that initial group, an executive group of 7 was chosen to lead this effort. The goal of the executive team was to work weekly with the Harvard staff to develop the necessary tools to understand how to involve the community, stakeholders and community leaders to identify and execute strategies to address this decades-long issue. This group was not tasked with coming up with solutions, rather its goal was to involve as many voice as possible to better understand the root causes of blight. This work, that involves community input, surveys, and meetings is currently underway.

Key Timeline of Program Milestones

• Nov. 2024: Mayor Arceneaux and cross-sector team begin work in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative’s track on Cross-Boundary Collaboration.
• Dec. 2024: Formation of the Group of 25 and initial strategy session at the municipal auditorium.
• Jan. 2025: Establishment of the working group of 7 (representing the city, non-profits and faith-based) that met each week to discuss strategies to uncover root causes and enhance community involvement.
• April 2025: The working group attends an intensive week-long workshop at Harvard University in Cambridge.
• May 2025: The working group meets with various key leaders, including the Shreveport City Council, Caddo Parish and service organizations to present the the roll out of community involvement and to receive feedback.
• June 2025: The working group schedules 11 neighborhood clean-ups called “Clean Sweep” (click for schedule) and target areas of Highland and Mooretown at the first two neighborhoods to coordinate with residents on their ideas for neighborhood improvement.
• Ongoing: Over the next months and years, the city will continue to roll out Block By Block in various neighborhoods.