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 78th 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 2027 Theme: Enhancing Economic Wellbeing through Inclusive Civic Engagement

Across America, communities are discovering that civic and economic health go together: when residents have both a voice in shaping their community and a hand in building it, opportunity follows. The 2027 All-America City Award will recognize communities putting residents in the driver’s seat of local economic life, building inclusive local economies that reduce inequality, create pathways out of poverty, encourage entrepreneurship, and expand opportunity for everyone. The award will spotlight places across the country where residents, businesses, and local institutions are working together to ensure that economic decisions are community-led and that prosperity is broadly shared. 

Many of today’s democratic challenges, including declining trust, political disengagement, and polarization, are deeply connected to broader economic realities, including rising costs of living, housing insecurity, regional economic decline, wage inequality, debt burdens, unemployment, and changing labor markets. By addressing these economic pressures through inclusive decision-making and problem-solving, communities are discovering innovative solutions that strengthen not just their economies, but their democracies. 

The 2027 award will recognize communities that are tackling these challenges by welcoming residents and community partners into economic decision-making, from housing, zoning, and development to public budgeting and workforce policy. These communities engage residents, businesses, and public institutions in systemic solutions that create more resilient and equitable economies. 

Projects that fit this year’s theme include: 

• Participatory budgeting initiatives that give residents decision-making power over how public funds are allocated. 
• Programs that support new entrepreneurs and connect them to networks and markets.
• Efforts to restore economic mobility by helping people find and keep quality local jobs.
• Community wealth-building efforts such as cooperative business incubators, community land trusts, and local purchasing initiatives that keep economic benefits in the community. 
• Coalitions of residents, businesses, workers, and civic organizations driving policy change on issues like social mobility, housing affordability, childcare access, food security, and living wages. 
• Community development corporations and other nonprofits that support programs on job training, financial literacy, business startups, and other programs.
• Policymaking processes that bring workers, businesses, unions, and residents into regional economic planning and development decisions. 
• Youth economic empowerment programs that combine job training, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and civic leadership to build long-term economic success.
• Mutual aid networks and community care initiatives that strengthen economic resilience by connecting neighbors with resources, skills, and support. 
• Immigrant economic inclusion initiatives that remove barriers to employment, business ownership, and financial participation for new Americans. 
• Place-based economic revitalization efforts led by residents in communities affected by disinvestment or regional economic decline. 

Important Dates

June 2026-May 2027: AAC Webinar Series
Fall, 2026: Application released
December 28, 2026: Letters of Intent Due
February 19, 2027: Applications Due
March 2027: Finalists Announced
March-June 2027: Competition Preparation
June 25-27 2027: AAC Competition & Event in Denver, CO

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.