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Speaker Symposium: Mayor Who Put City on a Diet
Name: Speaker Symposium: Mayor Who Put City on a DietDate: March 23, 2016Time: 7:30 PM - 7:30 PM CDTEvent Description:How does an entire city go on a diet and lose a million pounds in less than five years? Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett will describe his efforts to help city residents collectively lose one million pounds, starting with his personal 42-pound weight loss.
More about Mayor Cornett:
In 2007, when Men’s Health magazine ranked Oklahoma City as America’s 15th “Fattest City,” Cornett decided to champion a citywide weight-loss initiative designed to make its residents healthier and improve the quality of life. At the time, Cornett weighed 220 pounds and, according to BMI calculators, was clinically obese.
Cornett encouraged residents to sign up on www.ThisCityIsGoingOnADiet.com, where they could find resources and events to help shed the pounds. In January 2012, the city’s residents reached the million-pound mark, and those who had lost more than 100 pounds appeared on national television talk shows with the OKC mayor.
Cornett was born and raised in Oklahoma City, the son of a postal worker and a school teacher, who taught him the value of public service and encouraged him to keep the faith, work hard and dream big. Today, as the first four-term mayor in Oklahoma City history, Cornett leads a thriving community that reflects his parents’ principles.
During his time in office, Oklahoma City has invested nearly $2 billion in schools and quality-of-life infrastructure through its innovative MAPS program. That investment generated nearly $6 billion in private sector investment. His leadership was instrumental in bringing a NBA franchise to Oklahoma City.
Honored by various organizations and publications as the top mayor in the state and nation, Cornett was named the second-best mayor in the world by an international panel. Newsweek magazine called him one of the “five most innovative Mayors in the United States.” Politico placed him on its Politico 50 list of “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2015.”