Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz heads the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Winter Meeting this week in Washington, D.C., where the hot topic is: creating new jobs.

Kautz, president of the mayors' group, is scheduled to appear Thursday on a major panel on job retention and creation with:

• Zia Eftekhar, CEO, Philips Lighting
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chair of the board of Minneapolis-based Carlson Cos.
•  Eric A. Spiegel, president and CEO, Siemens
•  Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert
•  Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith

The three-day meeting includes a Thursday speech by Caroline Kennedy on the “Mayors Ask What Youth Can Do” project. Kennedy, daughter or President John F. Kennedy, is interim chair, Institute of Politics, Senior Advisory Committee, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

On Friday, Kautz and the other mayors at the conference will meet with President Obama in the White House.