JERSEY CITY -- Brian Platt has been named director of Jersey City's new Innovation Team, a program funded through a three-year, $2.25 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announced yesterday in a statement.

Jersey City was one of 12 cities in the United States selected in December 2014 to take part in the Bloomberg Philanthropies' program. The Innovation Team, nicknamed the "i-team," will initially focus on the revitalization of main street business districts in Jersey City.

Platt worked as an data analyst with a global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, according to the release. He previously taught kindergarten in Newark through the Teach for America Program as well.

"Public service is a growing passion of mine, and I am humbled and thankful for this opportunity," Platt said in a statement. "This new Jersey City i-team will help us exponentially expand our capacity and capability to improve the quality of life for Jersey City residents in a meaningful way."

Platt is pursuing a masters of public administration at Columbia University and currently serves as a senior aide in the Mayor's Office where he has helped build the city's open data portal and implemented data collection and data-driven decision-making processes for all city departments.

"Brian has been a vital component of moving many of our most critical and complex projects forward," Fulop said. "He brings to the team a significant amount of knowledge about data, local government, and the Jersey City community, as well as leadership experience and a creative approach to problem solving."

Bloomberg Philanthropies is an organization focused on public health, environment, education, government innovation and the arts, and distributed $462 million in 2014. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's charitable activities, including his foundation and personal donations.

"We know that dedicated innovation capacity can drive bold impact for cities and their citizens," said James Anderson, head of Government Innovation programs for Bloomberg Philanthropies. "We're excited for the work to get underway in Jersey City with the hiring of the new i-team director."

Grant funds from the Bloomberg Philanthropy program will allow mayors to hire and fund teams for up to three years. Using Bloomberg Philanthropies' Innovation Delivery approach, i-teams will go through a data-driven process to assess problems and generate responsive new interventions.

"Bloomberg Philanthropies' i-team model is a unique, data-driven process that will help us accurately diagnose the root causes of key challenges we face as a City and identify solutions that work," Deputy Mayor Vivian Brady-Phillips said. "We look forward to getting our first project off the ground and the exciting work that lies ahead."

Innovation team grants were also awarded to Albuquerque, NM; Boston, MA; Centennial, CO; Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Mobile, AL; Minneapolis, MN; Peoria, IL; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; and Syracuse, NY, as well as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Applications for a position on the Jersey City Innovation Team are available on the Jersey City website at jerseycitynj.gov/iteam. The complete i-team is expected to be assembled by early May.