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 76th 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 2025 Theme: Strengthening Environmental Sustainability through Inclusive Community Engagement

As communities grapple with the urgent challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, the 2025 All-America City Award will recognize the pivotal role that community engagement plays in advancing environmental sustainability and resilience.

Climate change presents imminent and complex dangers to local communities, demonstrated in part by rising temperatures, intensified extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and ecological disturbances. Urgent and equitable action is imperative to shield vulnerable populations and cultivate resilient communities capable of withstanding and thriving in the face of environmental, economic, and social impacts. Particularly, low-income, under-resourced, high-density, and communities of color will bear the brunt of these impacts due to limited resources and historical disinvestment.

AAC applicants will need to demonstrate a steadfast commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability through meaningful community engagement initiatives. Whether through conservation projects, renewable energy initiatives, waste reduction efforts, or green infrastructure developments, applicants should exemplify the spirit of collaboration and civic responsibility necessary to meet the moment.

The 2025 All-America City application will ask applicants to discuss the strength of their civic capital—the formal and informal relationships, networks and capacities they use to make decisions and solve problems—and to provide examples of three community-driven programs that have adapted and transformed the community. At least one of these efforts must be focused on the 2025 theme – Strengthening Environmental Sustainability through Inclusive Community Engagement.

Projects adhering to this year’s theme include, but are not limited to:

• Long-term community engagement strategies, such as appreciative inquiry, citizen commissions, and participatory planning, that empower communities in climate action planning and policy-making.
• Sustainable transportation campaigns that engage residents in efforts to increase biking, walking, carpooling, and public transit use.
• Community-based workforce development programs focused on increasing and ensuring equitable access to green jobs.
• Neighborhood-based climate resilience projects that also potentially improve health outcomes, such as community gardens, urban agriculture initiatives, green infrastructure installations, and tree planting programs. 
• Enhancing and streamlining efforts through technology and AI solutions, such as the development of apps for collecting environmental data or monitoring community-driven climate actions.
• Community forums on climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• Community discussion forums that improve literacy and deepen shared understanding of climate change causes and consequences.
• Climate action committees or task forces to develop localized action plans in collaboration with residents.
• Working with schools to increase shared awareness and understanding of climate change impacts, especially those on high-poverty, under-resourced communities.
• Raising climate change awareness through the arts and entertainment.
• Natural disaster preparedness planning that involves residents in collective action, including bolstering the capacity of the nonprofit sector to respond.

Important Dates

June 2024-May 2025: Promising Practices Webinar Series
December 30, 2024: Letters of Intent Due
February 27, 2025: Applications Due (download via form to the left of this page)
March 2025: Finalists Announced
March-June 2025: Competition Preparation
June 27-29, 2025: AAC Competition & Event in Denver, CO
June 29, 2025: 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.