Houston’s global future

President David Leebron welcomed Houston business and civic leaders to Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy May 15 for a Global Cities Initiative discussion on creating new city-to-city partnerships to help businesses grow in Houston and strengthen the region’s global competitiveness. Launched by Brookings and JPMorgan Chase in 2012, the Global Cities Initiative is a five-year effort aimed at helping United States city and metropolitan leaders become more globally fluent by providing an in-depth and data-driven look at their regional standing on crucial global economic measures.