Craig Greenberg is no stranger to success. A former businessman, and the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, Greenberg has worked immensely to get where he is today. Yet, he still strives for greatness, working on making Louisville a better city, and demonstrating what leading and serving looks like, so he can rely on the youth to help make a change.
Greenberg’s journey to become mayor was not a walk in the park. He grew up a Louisville native, attending Dunn Elementary, Kammerer Middle, and Ballard High School. While in middle school, Greenberg’s class took a field trip to meet the newly elected mayor of Louisville, Jerry Abramson, and that was his inspiration. Greenberg stated, “His energy and excitement about our city, and what he was doing in our city and the opportunities we had really excited me, and ever since then, my dream job was to be mayor of Louisville.
While that dream remained in the back of Greenberg’s head, he took a different direction in the beginning of his career. After attending the University of Michigan, Greenberg “happily pursued” the growth of 21c Museum Hotels, which he helped start, and was the CEO of for many years. Greenberg and his wife, Rachel, were also enjoying family life, as they were raising two sons.
In 2018, 21c was sold and the idea of becoming mayor reentered Greenberg’s head. As he started to think about the next chapter in his life, he decided to pursue his dream job. Greenberg commented, “I wanted to help move Louisville in a new direction, so I ultimately decided to quit my job and run for mayor.”
Greenberg had previous governmental experience, serving as senior class president at Ballard. Greenberg says that ever since then, he has always worked to stay engaged in the community and believes strongly in giving back. With a Jewish background, Greenberg has always abided by the saying, “Tikkun Olam,” translating to “repair the world.” Detailing the impact this saying has had on his life, Greenberg explains, “The concept is pretty simple. Every day, it weighs large and small, personally or professionally. We should each try to make the world a better place. That’s something that my parents taught me, and something that Rachel and I have tried to instill in our boys.” Greenberg mentioned this saying is always something he has been motivated by, fueling him every day, especially when thinking about running for mayor.
Greenberg found a passion for running during his time at Harvard Law School. In 1996, the 100th Boston Marathon took place and Greenberg attended. Greenberg said, “I saw lots of people who were even more out of shape than me and they were running a marathon, so, literally that day, I bought a pair of running shoes and started to run, and that was 25+ years ago, but I fell in love with running then and I’ve been running ever since.”
Although Greenberg does not run marathons anymore, he still has a strong love for running and fitness in general, so he incorporated it into his campaign. There are 623 voting precincts in Louisville, and Greenberg made it a goal to run through all of them. “I wanted to make sure I got to see every corner of the city,” he stated. “I did it through running. I met people along the way who I didn’t plan to run with, and it was a great way to get to know the city, get to know people, learn about the challenges and issues that are on people’s minds, and promote a healthy lifestyle at the same time. I think, whether it’s running or walking or whatever else people enjoy doing, that maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a good diet and physical fitness is incredibly important for both your physical and mental health.”
Louisville has now created the Mayorthon races with Greenberg in office, four 5K races throughout the year for various occasions, which Greenberg himself runs in with other Louisvillians.
When eyeing the future of Louisville, Greenberg relies heavily on youth to make an impact and sets them up for success, helping to resolve violence, unemployment, or whatever hardship an individual may encounter.
Greenberg acknowledges that the gun violence epidemic in the community mostly transpires between young people. Greenberg and his office are working tirelessly to treat this issue, working with groups like his Office of Violence Prevention, the Parks Department, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club of Kentucky, and many others. In discussing his resolution plan, Greenberg explains, “We’re reaching out to programs, as there are far too many kids in our city who don’t have hope, who don’t feel like there’s an opportunity for them, who might not have strong support system from their parents or other family members who they feel love them and want them to have a great path in life. They’re also born into families of extreme poverty. Therefore, they end up heading down the wrong path, which far too often leads to gun violence.”
Greenberg expects the youth to play a crucial role in fixing the violence problem in Louisville and calls on them to speak up when they know anything, even though it can be very difficult.
Greenberg has also worked to create opportunities for teenagers in and right out of high school. Greenberg goes in depth, “We have lots of partnership opportunities where we’re trying to create pathways for high school students. We have a program called Summerworks that gives teenagers opportunities for summer jobs. We work with JCPS Academies of Louisville and are working with organized labor. We know that not everyone might be headed to college as their next step, and we want to provide those students with great opportunities for good paying jobs and careers.” Greenberg and his office strive to provide young citizens with economic opportunities.
Greenberg has devoted his life to the city of Louisville. He has worked tirelessly on improving the city for years and is nowhere near finished. When Greenberg was asked what his vision for the city is, he answered, “Well, we definitely want to continue to improve public safety and reduce gun violence. I want Louisville to be a thriving, vibrant, energetic, exciting city, where young people want to live after they complete their schooling, whether it’s high school or college. Everyone has the opportunity to live and work anywhere they want these days, and I want all young people, not just Louisvillians, but all young people to choose Louisville!”