One of our founders, Chief Justice Louis Brandeis, called states “laboratories of democracy.” While much is happening at the state level to either advance or restrain democracy, cities in many parts of the country are innovating to facilitate voting and community participation, and some are using tools offered by the League. Read more.

Get to Know this Year's AAC Finalists

Announcing the 2024 All-America City Award Jury

Hall of Fame Recipient: Wheat Ridge, CO

The 20 finalists for the 75th All-America City Award will bring diverse delegations of residents and stakeholders to Denver in June to showcase their initiatives under this year’s theme of “Strengthening Democracy through Local Action and Innovation.” Featured community initiatives include efforts to improve civics education, cultivate local leaders, make voting more accessible, and more. Read each finalist’s spotlight by clicking on their name here. 

Finalists will showcase the impactful initiatives of their communities to a panel of civic leaders. Jurors volunteer their expertise and time to carefully evaluate written applications, attend presentations, engage with insightful questions, and deliberate during the decision-making process. Jurors consists of civic engagement practitioners, leaders from business, philanthropy & nonprofit sectors, local government officials & youth representatives. Read more.

Wheat Ridge, Colorado is the 2024 All-America City Hall of Fame Inductee. Named an All-America City for the first time in 2021, Wheat Ridge is being recognized for embracing resident engagement during a period of great transformation through the “Let’s Talk Resident Engagement Program.” Wheat Ridge will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at this year’s All-America City Award Event in Denver, CO, June 7-9.

Read more.

Advancing Equity in Development and Beyond

Pilot Project Shaking Up Public Meetings

Community Change and Our Civic Stress Test

With funding from NextFifty, the League and Senior Fellow Lindsay Miller recently completed a project, “Enhancing the Equity and Inclusiveness of Age-friendly Initiatives,” which helped communities in Colorado add a racial equity dimension to their work on behalf of older adults, particularly as it relates to AARP’s “Age-friendly Communities” initiative.

Read more.

The traditional public meeting has been criticized in government innovation circles for years. It allows the squeakiest wheels to dominate. New voices rarely emerge. Nonetheless, it persists in cities worldwide. A promising new intervention—developed by the League in collaboration with partners and pilot communities— is breaking the mold to drive meaningful dialogue with residents. Read more.

Many of our communities are experiencing tug of wars, civic paralyses, and political stalemates over critically important decisions with incredible consequences for our collective future. In this article, Joel Mills encourages us to reconsider how we approach our public dialogue about community change. This article is part of the Spring edition of the National Civic Review, which is now open-access. Read more.