The All-America City Award recognizes communities that leverage civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation to successfully address local issues.

The National Civic League invites tribes, towns, cities, counties, and regions to apply for the 77th annual All-America City Award. The award, the nation’s most prestigious community recognition, offers a moment for:

• Reflection, as communities come together to assess their strengths, assets and challenges;
• Celebration, as local coalitions mobilize to display on a national stage the people, organizations and initiatives that make their community a great place to live, work and play; and
• Recognition of the resilience that communities across the country show when people come together to respond to local challenges.

AAC 2026 Theme: America at 250: Strengthening Civic Health and Building Trust

As the nation marks 250 years since its founding, we reflect on the ongoing journey to fulfill the promise of a government by, for, and of the people. The 2026 All-America City Award will recognize communities that are bringing these founding ideals to life by ensuring that the power to shape the future resides with the people. The award will spotlight communities across the country that are creatively engaging residents in collective efforts to create thriving and welcoming places where trust and belonging are abundant.

Across the country, Americans of all backgrounds and political perspectives are expressing growing frustration with a system that feels unresponsive, untrustworthy, and ineffective. Civic trust is declining, polarization is deepening, and many people feel disconnected from the decisions that shape their lives. Fortunately, democracy has never been static—it is a living system that can be renewed and reshaped through collective effort.

The 2026 award will honor communities that are reinventing how they come together to make decisions and solve problems. These communities engage residents, businesses, and public institutions in civic dialogue, collaboration, and community-building efforts that not only strengthen civic life and rebuild trust but also address pressing challenges and lay the foundation for a better future. By advancing innovative, community-driven approaches to governance, they are helping shape a more responsive, resilient democracy for the next 250 years.

Projects that fit this year’s theme might include:

• Collaborative efforts to address local challenges such as education, economic development, humane housing, public safety, health and well-being.
• Community-building programs like block party months and neighborhood mini-grants.
• Storytelling, visual media, and arts-based projects that creatively surface community hopes and visions for the future.
• Participatory budgeting initiatives that empower residents to directly decide how public funds are allocated.
• Citizens’ assemblies that bring together diverse groups of residents to deliberate and make recommendations on policy issues.
• Innovative public meeting formats, including mobile town halls and hybrid forums that broaden participation and foster respectful dialogue across differences.
• Civic leadership development programs for youth, immigrants, and historically underrepresented groups that build pathways to sustained participation in public life.
• The use of civic technology and digital platforms to connect residents with local government and each other.
• Deliberative forums that use facilitated conversations—face-to-face, digital, or hybrid—to build consensus and address contentious issues.
• Public education campaigns that increase understanding of how local decisions are made and how residents can influence them.
• Initiatives that build belonging and civic trust through shared service projects or cultural exchanges.
• The creation and use of civic spaces to advance belonging and create welcoming communities.
• Initiatives that build civic trust through trust audits, the use of trusted messenger networks, and support for local news or neighborhood information hubs.

Important Dates

July 2025-May 2026: Promising Practices Webinar Series
January 5, 2026: Letters of Intent Due (optional)
February 26, 2026: Applications Due (download via form on the right side of this page)
March 2026: Finalists Announced
March-June 2026: Competition Preparation
June 26-28, 2026: AAC Competition & Event in Denver, CO
June 28, 2026: Winners announced at the event’s closing ceremony

Process and Eligibility

The application process is a chance to mobilize local groups, showcase the people and programs that make your community equitable and thriving, and present these efforts on a national stage. The award process unfolds in two stages:

1. Written Application: Communities submit this streamlined application outlining their efforts related to the year’s theme and describing their civic capital.
2. In-Person Presentation: After an external review of all applications, 20 communities are selected as finalists and invited to a three-day peer-learning event and competition. During the event, finalist teams connect and share insights with peers, learn from national thought-leaders, and present the story of their work to a jury of nationally recognized civic leaders. After careful deliberation, the jury selects ten winning communities, which are announced during the event’s closing ceremony.

As always, eligible communities for the award include tribes, towns, cities, counties, and regions. Any entity within a community can lead the application process. In the past, municipalities, school districts, community foundations, community-based organizations, and other groups have successfully spearheaded applications.