Mayor Lori Lightfoot is taking off for a summer European visit next week with city officials and leaders from the business community.
Ostensibly, the trip is a chance to tout Chicago’s economy on the world stage and meet with the mayors of London and Paris to share best practices in building vibrant cities. But the jaunt also gives business executives, including several Lightfoot campaign donors, a chance to hobnob with major international city officials.
The journey will take Lightfoot and company to London and Paris from July 11 to 15 with the mayor delivering a speech at Fintech Week London, a gathering of the financial technology industry.
In a press release announcing the trip, Lightfoot’s office says, “Chicago has established itself as a hub for fintech companies looking to grow.”
Lightfoot will also meet with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. The Hidalgo meeting is especially relevant to Chicagoans as the city grapples with how to expand a protected cycling network and improve transit ridership.
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The mayor, as well as city transportation and planning chiefs Gia Biagi and Maurice Cox, will discuss Paris’ 15-minute City initiative, an urban planning effort to put all necessities for urban dwellers within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.
Hidalgo, a socialist in her second term, has been bolder than her American counterparts in shifting Parisians away from car use, moving to ban cars in much of the city center. Although she fared poorly in her recent presidential campaign, Hidalgo’s 15-minute city initiative has been a hallmark of her time as mayor.
Also traveling with Lightfoot are 13 business heavyweights, including chairs of the Sister Cities Initiative and several donors.
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Charles Smith, founder of CS Strategy, Shapack Partners CEO Jeff Shapack and John Robak, CEO of Greeley and Hansen are all contributors to Lightfoot, while SPAAN Tech CEO Smita Shah was seen at the mayor’s June 7 reelection fundraiser, according to a source.
The travel time may give Lightfoot a chance to convince others on the trip to contribute to her reelection campaign.
The mayor’s office says World Business Chicago, the city’s public-private economic development agency, will pay for the travel expenses of city officials.
