Tracy Colunga, Civic Engagement Director for the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins, leads a growing practice that includes the Cities of Service initiative and new programming drawing on the insights and skills of community members to power better local solutions. Tracy is a 16-year city government leader, previously serving as the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Long Beach, California. Under Tracy’s leadership, the Office of Civic Innovation worked closely with the Long Beach Police Department to understand trends and patterns of people cycling in and out of the justice system, eventually launching the Long Beach Justice Lab to strategically break the cycle of incarceration. She and her team led key local equity and impact-focused initiatives that include the development of the city’s first Language Access Policy, African American Cultural Center, Latino Cultural Center, Safe Long Beach Violence Prevention Plan, My Brother’s Keeper, and Airport Customer Experience.

As the granddaughter of migrant farmworkers, Tracy is a first-generation college graduate who now serves on the faculty of California State University Long Beach School of Social Work. She holds a Bachelor degree from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, and is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Luskin School of Public Affairs where she received her Masters of Social Work.