All-America City Award

The Jury Process

The All-America City Jury, comprised of nationally recognized public and civic affairs experts, reviews each of the finalists' applications. The All-America City Application asks the community to assess its strengths and weaknesses using the Civic Index, a 10-component tool developed by the National Civic League to evaluate a community's civic infrastructure. The application also requires a description of three community-driven projects that have had significant positive impact on community concerns since 2000.

Finalist communities prepare presentations for the AAC Jury. Communities tell their stories to the AAC Jury members in 10 minute presentations. At the conclusion of each presentation, an additional 10 minutes is allowed for the AAC Jury members to ask questions of the community delegates.

After all AAC Finalists have presented their stories and answered the Jury's questions, the AAC Jury retires to deliberate. Each application will receives a substantive review, so that the National Civic League staff can provide a thorough evaluation to each finalist community.

Using information presented in the applications and verified by NCL staff, and the delegation's jury presentation, the finalist communities are evaluated based on the All-America City Selection Criteria.

The Selection Criteria

• Participation of the public, private and nonprofit sectors and key constituencies to the maximum extent possible.
• Recognition and involvement of diverse segments and perspectives (ethnic, racial, socio-economic, age, etc.) in community decision-making.
• Creative use and leveraging of community resources.
• Significant and specific community achievements.
• Projects that address the community's most important needs.
• Cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries.
• Clear demonstration of project results and impacts (i.e. dollars raised or number of people affected).
• Projects which have significantly improved the community within the last three years and have the potential to continue improving the quality of life.
• At least one project must document ways in which the lives of children and youth have been tangibly improved.

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