“People don’t talk anymore about USAID…that’s a gift, actually, to the people with wrecking balls.” At the 2026 Global Empowerment Meeting, Amb. Samantha Power paid tribute to USAID and urged reflection on both the work that was done and how it can be improved in the future.
Visit the link in our bio to read more about @harvardcid 's annual convening.
The abortion pill Mifepristone is now at the center of a legal battle that’s gone all the way to the Supreme Court. We spoke to adjunct lecturer MaryRose Mazzola about this medication, the fight in the courts, and how we got to this moment. #SupremeCourt #Abortion
What makes the Gilded Age so similar to our current era? Historian and author Rutger Bregman draws the comparison to an era marked by decadence, extreme inequality, and exploitation—and how people with and without power organized to bring about change. #USHistory
Seismic shifts over the past year, including reduced funding following the collapse of USAID programs, rising geopolitical tensions, and rapid technological advances, have heightened the urgency to rethink the approach to critical development work.
In this video, HKS professors share “one big idea” to build a thriving world given the multitude of challenges facing our geopolitical landscape.
Taking place May 4-5, @harvardcid ’s Global Empowerment Meeting is convening leading thinkers and practitioners to explore how these seismic changes redefine what “development” can and should mean in the coming decades.
Being a workplace leader or manager provides a buffer against stress, finds a study by Professor Jennifer Lerner. This is because they often have more control and predictability than those in non-leadership positions.
In this video, she also provides some ways that leadership can help manage stress levels among their employees.
Second-year Master in Public Policy students presented their capstone projects at the Policy Analysis Exercise Showcase earlier this week.
Students developed policy recommendations for real-world clients on topics ranging from responsible use of artificial intelligence to preventing homelessness in Bogotá. #HKSLife
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Photos by Lydia Rosenberg
Earlier this month, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative gathered mayors from the ninth class of its flagship leadership development program for the first capstone event held in person, on the Harvard campus.
“Mayors are making a difference in cities every day but the work is full of challenges. As they celebrated milestones and reflected on progress, they also shared lessons learned with each other and our students,” said Jorrit de Jong, director of the Bloomberg @centerforcities .
Mayors from 45 cities across 16 countries spent three days in conversation with professors across the University, connected and compared issues with their peers, visited classrooms, and discussed progress in tackling specific issues facing their communities.
Visit the link in our bio to read more about the event.
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Photos by Mary Schwalm
From the politicization of the courts to a fractured news environment, former United States Senator Mitt Romney discusses the various challenges our democracy faces.
Watch the full conversation by visiting ken.sc/RomneyForum or the link in our bio.
David Sanger, adjunct lecturer and journalist, explains what we can learn about “adversarial alignment”—seen in the loose alliance between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—after the start of the Iran War, and how these countries are now working together.
“Anti-monopoly is a governing philosophy that broadly views concentrations of power as a threat to freedom.” Lina Khan, former chair of the FTC, reflects on two seminal anti-monopoly laws: the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
The 2025 James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Lecture in Economic Inequality was delivered by Khan in October of 2025.
Watch the full conversation at the link in our bio.
Despite the cold, Harvard community members collected more than 234 pounds of trash, microplastics, and other debris during our annual Charles River clean-up yesterday! #EarthDay #HKSLife
Mina Hsiang, Shorenstein fellow and former administrator of the U.S. Digital Service, shares her experience launching the IRS’s free tax filing option, what they did to ensure the Direct File pilot was successful, the response from users, and why it’s no longer available to taxpayers.
