Two months after leaving office, former Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is taking on new roles as a consultant and law professor.
Berke was mayor until April, when his second term ended. He announced Friday that he will work as a partner at Cityfi, a consultancy focused on helping local governments, private companies, philanthropies and their partners to achieve positive social and financial outcomes through civic and policy innovation, transformational technologies, mobility and urban planning and collaboration.
Berke, who was a litigator and Tennessee state senator before serving as mayor, also will teach public policy at Vanderbilt Law School and become a special adviser for innovation and strategic projects to university Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, according to a news release.
"My career has been focused on serving people - making communities safer and more connected, helping them thrive, and finding ways they can work better for everyone," Berke said in the release. "I'm very fortunate to be able to continue doing the things I love through these new opportunities."
(READ MORE: Andy Berke reflects on eight years of crisis and renewal as mayor of Chattanooga)
Berke was mayor from 2013 until 2021, during which time the city saw record increases in population, jobs and wages for the region.
Berke's administration was responsible for a number of major changes to the city, including creating the Baby University early childhood development initiative and the City's first Office of Early Learning, starting the downtown Innovation District and achieving an effective rate of net zero homelessness among the city's veterans. He was named American City & County's 2015 municipal leader of the year.
Berke also has accepted an invitation to chair a new advisory council and engage local leaders across the nation for the Strong Cities Network, a global consortium of cities working together to prevent violent extremism from taking root in their communities. The city of Chattanooga joined the Strong Cities Network in 2016, and Berke was closely involved with the launch of its public-private partnership Task Force Against Hate.
Contact Sarah Grace Taylor at staylor@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416. Follow her on Twitter @_sarahgtaylor.