(PITTSBURGH) Aug. 27   Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today presented Pittsburgh’s economic revitalization story to federal officials, community stakeholders, public policy organizations and innovation leaders at the White House Forum on Urban Innovation, located at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington D.C.

“This was truly a great experience that gave me the opportunity to speak to more than 100 national leaders about the Third Renaissance Pittsburgh is experiencing,” Ravenstahl said. “I talked a lot about successful developments like Bakery Square and its up and coming second phase and had the opportunity to network with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Office, among other attendees, who are doing great things with technology to improve the relationship between citizens and their government.”

As one of only eight speakers nationwide, Mayor Ravenstahl spoke on how Pittsburgh is successfully creating jobs, improving economic resilience and strengthening its communities through strong partnerships and dedicated leadership. Mayor Ravenstahl highlighted the City’s PowerUp Pittsburgh Initiative, among others as successful efforts that forge partnerships to create more jobs and grow Pittsburgh’s high-tech innovation economy. At the end of the Mayor’s presentation, he was asked to talk more about The Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program.

“What we are doing here in Pittsburgh to invest in our young people and an educated workforce is truly remarkable and provoked questions from the Mayor of Hartford, who is actually pursuing a similar program in his city,” Ravenstahl said.

Other attendees included representatives from IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge, who discussed how they are helping cities implement technology solutions to solve their greatest challenges.

“As a recent grant recipient of the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant, I was able to talk about our experience in working with IBM consultants to implement traffic congestion solutions in our city’s most densely populated neighborhoods,” Ravenstahl said. “I’m excited for IBM to report to us their high-tech recommendations next month.”

The White House Forum on Urban Innovation is a part of a new set of conversations hosted by the White House to spotlight stories of social innovation on the ground. White House representatives seek to learn from pioneers who are driving change in challenging times and to explore new ways federal policymaking can support their endeavors.