Develop Your Community/Organization Vision and Action Plan

-Hire NCL to help you dream, create a shared vision, and a specific and achievable action plan. NCL has experienced and amazing facilitators who know how to ask the tough and right questions. NCL has worked with communities, public and nonprofit organizations, and philanthropies in short-term and long-term projects that result in a plan that is useful and used to achieve win-win solutions and far-reaching results.

Be An Effective and Accountable Government

-Use NCL’s Model City Charter (now in the 8th edition) as a guide. It has provided critical guidance to cities and counties wanting to create a new charter or when revising their charter. Also, NCL can also connect you to experts on charters and charter commissions. -A must read before you begin the charter process is the popular Guide For Charter Commissions. It is in revision and will be available at the end of 2010. -Call NCL when you have questions about charters, charter commissions, and forms of government.

Achieve Tangible Results on Difficult Issues

-Engage NCL to help you think through issues, barriers to progress, plan, and help you implement your plan. Whether you are conducting transportation oriented development or seeking community engagement on developing budget priorities, NCL has skilled staff to help.

Have an Important and Productive Dialogue

-Ask NCL to help you have an important one-day or long-term dialogue on issues such as immigrant integration, racial equity, leadership development, and other issues. Sometimes you need a smart, well-respected, facilitator who can help you focus on the right issues and not skirt the difficult questions. -Connect to others who have developed guides and practices that can be used for small or large dialogues.

Increase Your Community’s Civic Pride and Engagement

-Become an All-America City. Join the more than 600 neighborhoods, cities, counties, and regions that have increased their civic pride and engagement through the application development and finalist competition. Nominate your community. Take a look at the application. See videos of community presentations. Read the stories of how All-America Cities are creating jobs, revitalizing downtowns, making housing affordable, and other actions. -Learn from the actions of educators (principals and teachers) recognized as MetLife Foundation Ambassadors In Education. They’ve connected school and community in ways that have created a life-long appreciation and desire in youth to be civicly active, given voice to youth in policy projects, and promoted greater understanding and partnership between schools and their neighbors.

Share New Ideas

-Become a member of NCL to have ready access to people who want to bring about social change through civic engagement, inclusiveness/diversity, and cross sector collaboration. -Contribute an article to NCL’s quarterly journal, The National Civic Review. -Join the conversation of innovative ideas through the new All-America City blog. -Attend the All-America City Awards in June to share your challenges and stories of success with leaders from throughout the country. Participate in the workshops at the All-America City Awards Center for Civic Excellence.

Build Your Capacity to Include Residents in Key Discussions

-Hire NCL knowledgeable and skill staff to coach you in how to engage the broad diversity of members of your community in important discussions.