Bloomberg Philanthropies has awarded grants totaling $24 million to five big-city mayors for programs that address key priorities in their respective cities, the Associated Press reports.

Announced by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as part of the Mayors Project, a new government innovation initiative spearheaded by his foundation, the funds will pay the salaries of teams operating outside of city government working to help city hall officials carry out and manage their plans. In addition to funding two initiatives over a three-year span chosen by each mayor, the project aims to identify best practices and foster partnerships between cities interested in working together on particular issues.

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed plans to use his city's $4.2 million grant to create a 311 phone system and address homelessness and panhandling. Chicago's Rahm Emanuel will use the $6 million awarded to his city to remove obstacles for aspiring entrepreneurs and significantly reduce the city's energy use, while Louisville mayor Greg Fischer will use his city's $4.8 million grant to partner with the city of Lexington to implement a new regional export strategy and improve public accountability. In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu will use his city's $4.2 million award to cut waiting and processing times for city services and reduce the city's homicide rate, while Memphis mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr. plans to use his $4.8 million grant to attract investment and intellectual capital to the city.

"This is well-structured, resourced, bottom-up innovation that is reflective of the fiscal challenges that many cities face," said Bruce Katz, metropolitan policy program director at the Brookings Institution. "The recovery is very sluggish. Job growth is anemic, and we're losing public sector jobs. The long-term effect of this is not just the individual innovations, but the ability to spread innovation across the country."