Roanoke, VA, is showing that civic engagement doesn’t need to take a back seat during an emergency. In the words of the city’s mayor, Sherman Lea, when COVID-19 hit “we did what an All-America City does – turned to our community to determine what is needed next.”

When the disease first arrived the city began reaching out to its nonprofits, business community and residents to make plans for outreach and response. This culminated later in a formal input process called “Star City Strong: Response, Recovery, Resiliency,” that involved a 36-member community task force. Read more.

“Civilizations rise and fall, and sometimes—if they are lucky—they renew themselves.” Author, former cabinet member and Common Cause founder John Gardner wrote these words in the National Civic Review. Joel Mills, senior director of the Centers for Communities by Design, thinks we may be, once again, experiencing what he calls “our John Gardner moment.” Mills recently wrote, “A global pandemic is sweeping our communities and leaving destruction in its wake. If ever there were a time for reflection and an assessment of our collective well-being, it is now.” Read more.

The National Civic League partnered with the Well Being in the Nation (WIN) Network and Community Commons to share the personal stories of the lead organizers of this year's All-America City communities. Jane Ellery, a Ball State University professor and community leader from Muncie, Indiana, joined Commons Good podcast host Stacy Wegley for a conversation about stewardship, belonging, and connection. Check out the excerpts to learn more about Jane’s experiences—and click on the audio clip to hear directly from Jane.

In the midst of a pandemic, voters are clamoring for Vote by Mail (VBM) but signing up remains a challenge. VoteByMail.io is a free, open-sourced tool, available in English and Spanish, that allows registered voters to sign up for an absentee/mail-in ballot by streamlining and digitizing the government VBM signup process for voters. In digitized states (those with online absentee ballot applications), registered voters can sign up in 2 minutes without leaving their screen. In addition, organizers can use the platform to drive and track turnout amongst targeted groups. Learn more.

To improve intergenerational well being and equity in our communities, we must first acknowledge our legacy of racism and understand the role that interpersonal, institutional, and structural racism play in creating avoidable disparities. The WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community is providing space for communities, organizations, and coalitions to learn with one another. Together, the community reflects and takes action to address racism in relationships and in structures and systems. Register now, open enrollment closes October 15th. Learn more.

Accountable Communities of/for Health (ACHs) are community-driven initiatives that focus on creating the conditions for whole-person health in communities by bringing cross-sector organizations, tribal nations, and community members together. The COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires across the west have raised new hurdles for the already difficult work of ACHs in Washington and California. In this paper, NCL's 2019 Pforzheimer Fellow, Stephanie Bultema, discusses how ACHs are finding creative ways to engage communities despite the challenges of 2020. Read more.