Every year communities from across the country compete for the All-America City Award, telling the story of their community and their work.
The All-America City Award continues to be the most prestigious civic award in the country. Mandy Pitts, Communications Director, City of Hickory, NC
Important dates and detailed instructions can be found in the full application.
The All-America City Award is like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Worcester Telegram Gazette
The 2021 All-America City Awards will recognize communities that have worked to improve equity and resilience. Equity is the fabric that allows communities to achieve broad-based economic prosperity and other goals. Resilience enables communities to face challenging times by not only preserving what makes their community great but adapting and growing stronger. Both qualities depend on inclusive civic engagement.
The need for equity and resilience has become more obvious in 2020, as communities have dealt with a global pandemic and racial bias incidents in law enforcement. Those communities with more equity and resilience have been more successful in combatting the pandemic and making the needed changes to improve the racial equity of law enforcement and other city services.
All-America City applicants for 2021 will be asked 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 community-driven projects that have adapted and transformed the community to be more equitable and resilient. Projects adhering to this year’s theme include (but are not limited to) those that:
Upcoming Themes:
2021: Building Equitable and Resilient Communities
2022: Advancing Early Literacy, guest hosted by Campaign for Grade Level Reading (CGLR)
2023: TBA
Community presentations are an essential part of the AAC experience. Finalist communities have 10 minutes to bring their application to life and present the story of their work and their community to a jury of national civic experts.
To the city and to the whole area, it’s like having that five-star rating on a restaurant. Karen Papouchado, Mayor Pro-Tempore, Aiken, SC
This page includes webinars, interviews and speeches covering promising practices around the country. The free monthly Promising Practices Webinar series highlights successful projects around the country with speakers from cities implementing creative strategies for civic engagement. These webinars are free and open to anyone who is interested in creating stronger communities. The National Civic League's interview series includes conversations with elected officials, civic engagement experts, figures important to our history and others. Recorded speeches allow you to re-live the keynote addresses of past All-America City awards events and conferences.
View the Webinar ArchiveFeatured Success Stories and Resources