A Culture of Innovation
International spotlight
PSL’ s innovation gets global recognition
Port St. Lucie has woven innovation into every layer of City Hall by engaging employees, residents and elected officials in a collaborative, human‐centered approach to strategic planning. What began as a workshop-style session— where staff, department heads, the Mayor and the full City Council reviewed resident feedback and brainstormed solutions— has grown into a citywide culture shift.
New employees are taught from day one that“ everyone can be an innovator,” supported through the City’ s Innovation Academy and a network of trained liaisons who help departments rethink processes and develop more efficient, resident‐focused solutions. This mindset now shapes the City’ s Strategic Plan, informed by insights gathered at interactive Citizen Summits and strengthened by project managers trained in problem framing, data analysis and prototyping.
By embedding innovation into strategic planning, Port St. Lucie has empowered teams to anticipate community needs— such as developing shade initiatives inspired by national models— and encouraged elected officials to participate directly in hands‐on ideation. Council members and staff now work
side by side to interpret resident input, sketch prototypes and explore new opportunities. While the shift has required adjustment and deeper collaboration, City leaders agree the payoff is significant: a unified, resident‐first approach that aligns the entire organization around creative problem‐solving and shared goals. These innovation practices were featured in an article by the Bloomberg Cities Network.
Innovate PSL strengthens culture of efficiency
In 2025, Innovate PSL laid the foundation for a more agile, efficient and empowered City workforce, starting with its signature Green Belt training program.
Modeled after the Denver Peak Academy, this hands-on training equipped staff across multiple departments with the tools to identify inefficiencies, streamline workflows and lead innovation from within.
The June cohort, one of the largest to date, included 13 participants from Planning and Zoning, IT, Utility Systems, Facilities, Finance, HR
40 | 2025 City Manager’ s Annual Report and Neighborhood Services. Each participant was challenged to apply their learning by launching a realworld innovation project.
The results were immediate and impressive. At the June 4 Share It Session, six employees presented their innovations, which ranged from digitizing services and improving forms to optimizing traffic data collection. These efforts collectively saved the City an estimated $ 56,000.
Later in September, another Share It Session celebrated six more Green Belt graduates, including standout
Grisette Smith from Utility Systems, who earned her certification within the same month by applying her training to streamline internal processes.
One of the most promising outcomes of this year’ s Green Belt momentum was the launch of a dedicated innovation project within the Utility Systems Department. Staff began working collaboratively to define a problem statement and identify opportunities for field-based innovation.