CitiesSpeak With Clarence Anthony

Send us Fan Mail At City Summit 2025 in Salt Lake City, Louisville Councilmember Kevin Kramer addressed local leaders as the incoming NLC president. Councilmember Kramer shared his experience as a teacher, Councilmember, and growing up in Louisville – as well as where we’re headed in 2026. He also outlines his platform for NLC in the coming year. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Clarence Anthony, NLC CEO & Executive Director, joined his friend, Adam Chapdelaine, CEO of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, on The 351 Podcast, for an engaging conversation about the commitment that local leaders must have in the face of a changing federal partnership, how to stay motivated and inspired in this important work, and the biggest challenges facing cities...

Send us Fan Mail At City Summit 2025 in Salt Lake City, Clarence Anthony, CEO and Executive Director of the National League of Cities, addressed local leaders on creating opportunities in uncertain times. During his remarks, Clarence highlighted the close relationship of local leaders to their residents as their true superpower in developing innovative solutions. For more information, visit us at...

Send us Fan Mail At City Summit 2025 in Salt Lake City, Mayor Steve Patterson, from Athens, Ohio, shared remarks and reflections from his year as NLC president. His speech from the mainstage focuses on his platform of building ready and resilient cities, towns and villages for the future. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail In a special episode recorded from City Hall in Salt Lake City, Clarence speaks with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall in the days leading up to City Summit 2025. Hear from Mayor Mendenhall on how the city first received a global view during the 2002 Olympics and has only continued to strengthen in the following years. From enhanced transit to a bustling sports scene to a diver...

Send us Fan Mail As a bonus episode, we are sharing a timely conversation for local leaders about the month-long federal government shutdown. NLC's Mike Wallace, Legislative Director for Community and Economic Development, joined Todd Glover and Erica Wright from the Municipal Association of South Carolina on their podcast, SCDC. Together, they discuss how we got to this point, the impacts of...

Send us Fan Mail Angela Williams joins CitiesSpeak to discuss leadership in a fast-changing world that can feel out of control, finding common ground, and staying grounded to your values and what is important. She is the CEO of United Way Worldwide, a role in which she seems to be everywhere, all at once. Angela Williams is continuing the United Way tradition of acting as an invaluable partner and...

Send us Fan Mail As a bonus episode, we are sharing a timely conversation between Irma Esparza Diggs, NLC’s Senior Executive for Federal Advocacy, and the Municipal Association of South Carolina, on their podcast SCDC. Irma reflects on the importance of creating partnerships, including how NLC’s federal advocacy team works with Congress and the administration to meet the needs of local governments...

Send us Fan Mail Crystal Washington is known for her work helping organizations get the information they need to become “future-proof.” She is an indispensable guide to our digital future, an author, and a hall-of-fame speaker. Last November in Tampa, Crystal enchanted attendees at NLC’s City Summit conference as she engaged members in conversation about how to prepare for the future. For more inf...

Send us Fan Mail Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's experience growing up in the Park Heights neighborhood informs his approach to crime prevention, youth services, and other city programs. Clarence and Mayor Scott sit down to discuss Baltimore's focus on disrupting cycles of violence, as well as the lessons he learned about intergovernmental response and resilience leading his city through...

Send us Fan Mail As a bonus episode this month, we are sharing an episode of the Chief Influencer podcast, which features an interview with NLC CEO and Executive Director, Clarence Anthony. The Chief Influencer podcast spotlights leaders who have figured out how to break through in today’s fragmented and noisy world. Clarence discusses the importance of inclusive leadership, the lessons from his e...

Send us Fan Mail Promoting economic mobility and ensuring this generation is better off than the last starts at the local level, because local leaders are closest to the issues and the solutions. Allan Golston from the Gates Foundation joins Clarence Anthony to discuss why economic mobility is so critical to our future and the foundation's goals for the next twenty years as they wind down the...

Send us Fan Mail Social isolation and loneliness were issues that really came to the forefront during the pandemic. When everything shut down five years ago, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi took it upon himself to look for creative ways to grow connections between residents and build a sense of community, which is how the One Thousand Gatherings initiative was created. For more information, visit us a...

Send us Fan Mail When Mayor Muriel Bowser began her second term in 2019, she set an ambitious goal of creating 36,000 new housing units in Washington, DC by 2025. Six years later, the city has exceeded that goal, and today, Mayor Bowser co-chairs NLC's America's Housing Comeback Advisory Group: a leadership table for housing policy leaders and innovators in the public and private sectors...

Send us Fan Mail Rep. Greg Stanton represents Arizona's 4th District in Congress, and as a former Phoenix councilmember and mayor, he co-chairs the Former Local Elected Leaders Caucus in the House of Representatives. Rep. Stanton joined the main stage at the 2025 Congressional City Conference for a conversation with Clarence Anthony about infrastructure, federal funding and why local leaders...

Send us Fan Mail As the National League of Cities begins its second century of service to America's cities, towns and villages, in this episode, we share a conversation with three former NLC leaders about their unique perspectives on municipal leadership and NLC's impact over the years. This conversation was recorded at NLC's Centennial City Summit in Tampa, Florida in November 2024...

Send us Fan Mail NLC President Mayor Steve Patterson of Athens, Ohio, joins Clarence Anthony live in the studio to talk about his vision as NLC president for the year ahead. They discuss how his background as a Major in the Air Force and a former college professor has influenced his leadership as mayor, and how he thinks cities can better collaborate across borders. For more information, visit us...

Send us Fan Mail Former Mayor Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reflects on her dedicated career in public service, what her time in multiple elected offices has meant to her and advice for newly elected leaders. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail The future of transportation is shifting toward electric vehicles, which is changing how communities approach municipal fleets. The City of South Pasadena, California partnered with Enterprise Mobility to electrify the police department's entire vehicle fleet. In this episode, Clarence Anthony talks with Councilmember Michael Cacciotti and Enterprise Mobility's Vice Pres...

Send us Fan Mail Artificial intelligence and new technology are changing the way we live and work. In this episode, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Jon Berroya, Google's Government Affairs and Public Policy Director, discuss potential areas for integrating AI into municipal services and ensuring it is used ethically and equitably. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail NLC's convening power brings people from across the country together who otherwise would not connect. In this episode, Fairfax, Virginia, city council member Jon Stehle and Central Point, Oregon, city council member Taneea Browning share how they connected at NLC events and exchanged knowledge to transform their communities' futures. For more information, visit us at nlc...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of CitiesSpeak we are joined by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Roby Schapira, Wells Fargo Senior Vice President and Diverse Segments Leaders for Small Business. It is an exciting conversation with two influential leaders who are deeply invested in the economic success of American cities and American small businesses. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail The Supreme Court wrapped up a memorable term in July with several decisions that will impact America’s cities, towns and villages. Amanda Karras, the Executive Director and General Counsel of the International Municipal Lawyers Association, joins CitiesSpeak to explain what the court's decisions mean for local governments and leaders. For more information, visit us at nlc.or...

Send us Fan Mail As a bonus episode this month, we're sharing a timely conversation about how to supercharge our nation's efforts to close the housing supply gap. The episode focuses on the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook, which NLC developed in partnership with the American Planning Association. The conversation originally aired as an episode of the APA podcast, with APA's Dire...

Send us Fan Mail Lake Charles, Louisiana, experienced the most federally declared disasters in a one-year period than any other city after a series of hurricanes and historic rain events over a few months in 2020. Mayor Nic Hunter shares his experience rebuilding the community, hardening infrastructure against future storms, and how to prepare for after the storm. For more information, visit us at...