National Civic League Civic Action, September 2008

We are pleased to provide you with the latest news about NCL!

Announcing National Civic Blog: We are pleased to announce NCL's blog, the National Civic Blog. You can link to it from our Web site at www.ncl.org.

Profiles of the 2008 Ambassadors In Education Available: Twenty-five principals - the 2008 Ambassadors In Education - recognized for their exemplary efforts to connect school and community are profiled on the National Civic League Web site at: http://www.ncl.org/metlife/2008/2008%20AIE%20Best%20Practices.pdf The profiles also will be published in the National Civic League's quarterly journal, National Civic Review, in the next few months. Thank you to the program partner and sponsor, the MetLife Foundation.

SAVE THE DATE - June 17-19, 2009 for the 60th Anniversary All-America City Awards and Alumni Celebration in Tampa, Florida: The NCL Board and a committee of AAC Alumni are planning an array of workshops, receptions, recognitions, and creative outlets for the nearly 600 All-America Cities over the past 59 years to gather and share lessons learned with their peers.

2009 All-America City Award Application Available: Consider competing for the All-America City Award in 2009. The deadline is March 15, 2009. Now is a good time to review the new, streamlined application and work with others in your community to complete it! It is an empowering and energizing experience. It builds civic pride and a belief in the community to advance and succeed! To get the 2009 application contact Kristins@ncl.org or 303-571-4343. The All-America City Awards is the "Oscar" for communities! The next online briefing for prospective AAC applicants is Tuesday, September 23. Contact Kristins@ncl.org to sign up.

All-America City Man in an All-America City: Mandy Pitts, Communications Director, of the City of Hickory, North Carolina (AAC 2007) sent us a release about Chris Johnson, a member of Hickory, North Carolina's 2007 AAC delegation. Mr. Johnson received the Ukama Award at the African American Cultural Center Summer Gala. Mr. Johnson, a former addict who was able to turn his life around with the help of Exodus Homes (one of the projects spotlighted in Hickory's winning AAC application) was recognized because he started "Young Men of Integrity," a mentoring program that helps young men at risk who do not have fathers in their homes. The youth learn about "decision-making, entrepreneurship, living drug free, treating women with respect, getting an education, preventing gang involvement, and avoiding teen pregnancy," according to the Gala press release. Contact Chris Johnson at 828-962-5614 or through www.exodushomes.org. Mandy, thank you for sharing this wonderful story! If you have a wonderful story to share about your community, send it to kristins@ncl.org.
College Graduate and Undergraduate Fellowship Opportunity: NCL is accepting applications for the Pforzheimer Fellowship, an NCL fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students to further student knowledge of and interest in local government administration, community building and civic affairs. The fellowships, funded by the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation, connect students with community leaders, civicactivists and public servants at the local and national levels. It offers valuable opportunities to network with public officials and learn more about the latest trends in community problem solving, democratic governance, innovative policy-making and effective public administration. Fellows also have opportunities to conduct research on local government issues and institutions. For more details contact kristins@ncl.org.

NCL Facilitates Future of Denver Parks and Recreation Community Process: View the video of one of the recent planning meetings facilitated by NCL Senior Associate Francisco Gonima http://denver.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=18&clip_id=1976

Terrell Blodgett Visits NCL: Former NCL Board Chair, Terrell Blodgett was in the NCL offices in August. He is the former Mike Hogg Professor in Urban Management at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and national expert on the council-manager form of local government. As such, he was an important member of the advisory committee to NCL's 8th Edition of the Model City Charter: Defining Good Government in a New Millennium, published in 2003. Mr. Blodgett recently completed The Land, The Law, and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff, Governor of Texas 1921-1925; President of Baylor University 1932-1947 http://www.amazon.com/Land-Law-Lord-1921-1925-University/dp/0976115220, and has been conducting book tours across Texas.

NCL Board Member Curtis Johnson is the co-author of Disrupting Class http://www.amazon.com/Disrupting-Class-Disruptive-Innovation-Change/dp/007159206 written with Clayton M. Christensen of Harvard Business School, published in the spring of 2008. It explains "why even the best managed schools will be disrupted by changing learning models and how both school districts and the chartered sector can respond. He works with a national network known as Education | Evolving to assist policymakers, as well as educators, in rethinking strategies for schooling the next generation of youth." Mr. Johnson and former NCL Board member and Washington Post columnist Neal Peirce most recently authored Century of the City, to be released in the fall of 2008, a book based on the major themes of a 2007 Global Urban Summit sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation.


NCL's mission is to strengthen democracy by increasing the capacity of our nation's people to fully participate in and build healthy and prosperous communities across America. We are the nation's best at the science of local government, the art of public engagement, and the celebration of the progress that can be achieved when people work together. www.ncl.org

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