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© 2008 Wi ley Per iodicals , Inc .Publ ished onl ine in Wi ley InterScience (www.interscience.wi ley.com)Nat ional Civ ic Review • DOI : 10.1002/ncr.190 • Winter 2007

First-time visitors to an All-America City competition are oftenunprepared for what they encounter. One way to describe theexperience would be as a cross between cheer leader camp anda scholarly two-day seminar on the latest trends in community-based problem solving. It’s not often in everyday life that somuch enthusiasm, cultural diversity, and civic-mindedness areencountered all in one place.

“If only you could bottle this,” people often say. The wordAmericana comes to mind. Each community sends a delega-tion to present three examples of positive community change.Razzle-dazzle is not a requirement during presentations to thejury of civic experts, but delegates frequently accompany theirnarratives of community betterment with some combination ofvideo, music, and dramatic interpretation. Each delegationhas twenty minutes to tell their story and twenty minutes toanswer questions, and when they file out of the banquet hall,if they haven’t formed a conga line then these groups of firechiefs, mayors, city managers, nonprofit directors, volunteers,and youth group members may be marching, chanting, singing,or cheering.

I’ve been to the AAC competition many times, never failing tocome away with a more optimistic view of the state of Americancommunities than when I arrived. Until this year, however, I hadnever been to a school assembly honoring winners of theMetLife Foundation Ambassadors in Education Award. I waslucky enough to attend two such events last spring.

Marjorie Deem, a physical education teacher in St. Louis,Missouri, made quite an impression. She coaches a schoolbike club that trains on an extensive trail system at nearbyForrest Park. She told me about seeking out unhappy-lookingstudents, the ones who don’t play sports or belong to any ofthe in-groups. She intentionally recruits those students tobike club so they can have a feeling of belonging and a senseof accomplishment.

We may not be able to bottle the spirit of award programs suchas All-America Cities and the MetLife Foundation Ambas-

sadors in Education, but we do try to document and dissemi-nate information through publishing and other efforts. In thisissue of the National Civic Review, we have articles on the twoawards programs and our twenty-year-old Community ServicesProgram, which has furnished technical assistance to townsand cities all over the country.

This year, we are sharing our experiences in another way. TheNational Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has elect-ed our president and CEO, Gloria Rubio-Cortes, to be a fel-low. NAPA Fellows provide insight, experience, and generalguidance for academy projects, and they help the organiza-tion address emerging issues in the public sector. The crite-rion for selection is a sustained and outstanding contributionto the field of public administration through public service orscholarship.

I’d also like to congratulate Heather McLeod Grant, a memberof the National Civic League’s Council of Advisors. She iscoauthor of the recently published book Forces for Good: TheSix Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits. She and coauthorLeslie Crutchfield reveal the secrets of how nonprofit organi-zations achieve significant impact in their community.

One further note: John Crowley, a former member of the NCLCouncil of Advisors, died in May. Crowley served on thePasadena City Council for twelve years and was mayor of thatcity from 1986 to 1988. In 2005, the John C. Crowley Trailwas named in his honor. During his professional career,Crowley was president of a real estate development firm; citymanager of Monterey Park, California (from 1953 to 1961);consultant to several organizations, including the MunicipalFinance Officers Association of the United States and Canada;editor of the quarterly publication Municipal Finance; andmanager of the League of California Cities’ SouthernCalifornia Division.

Michael McGrathEditor

Note from the Editor