All-America City Award Fact Sheet
Background
The All-America City Award is the oldest and most respected community recognition
program in the nation. Since 1957 the award has recognized communities whose
citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and
achieve uncommon results.
Each year, only 10 cities are selected as All-America City winners. These
communities exemplify the true American spirit at work. Their citizens are
actively committed to ensuring that their community is a safe nurturing place
to live. Since the program's inception, more than 4,000 communities have competed
and over 500 have been named "All-America Cities."
Applications
Each year, the All-America City Award program receives more than 100 applications
from communities across the country. These applications are reviewed by a
20-member screening committee of public and civic affairs experts. Following
a careful and thorough examination, finalists are announced.
At hearings before the All-America City jury in June, each finalist community
will present its application and answer questions posed by the jury. Once
the jury has carefully considered all the finalists' presentations and applications,
the winners are announced at an awards ceremony.
Criteria
For a community to be named an All-America City, it must be able to demonstrate
successful resolution of community issues through collaborative effort. Award
winning criteria include the following: active citizen involvement, effective
and efficient government performance, maximized local philanthropic and volunteer
resources, a strong capacity for cooperation and consensus building, community
vision and pride, intergroup relations, community information sharing, and
intercommunity cooperation.
In 1997, on the heels of the President's Summit for America's Youth, the
National Civic League began requiring that all winners must be able to demonstrate
community-wide youth enrichment initiatives.
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