The National Civic League is an American non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that advocates for transparency, effectiveness, and openness in local government. It was founded as the National Municipal League in 1894 at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 convention of politicians, policy-makers, journalists, and educators (including Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

, Louis Brandeis

Louis Brandeis

Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...

, Marshall Field

Marshall Field

Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Life and career:...

, and Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...

) to discuss the future of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 cities

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

. It also promotes professional management of local government through publication of "model charters

Municipal charter

A city charter or town charter is a legal document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the middle ages....

" for both city and county governments.

It is best known for its All-America City Award

All-America City Award

The All-America City Award is given by the National Civic League annually to ten cities in the United States.The oldest community recognition program in the nation, the award recognizes communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon...

, given to ten communities annually. It also has a Community Services Program, New Politics Program, and Federal-Community Partnership Program.

In the last 25 years, NCL has worked intensively with communities through its Community Services program to address current challenges including developing green and sustainable solutions, addressing racial inequity, and strengthening immigrant integration strategies.

Presidents of the League Name Term James C. Carter 1894–1903 Charles J. Bonaparte Charles Joseph Bonaparte Charles Joseph Bonaparte was an American lawyer and political activist from Maryland who served in the Cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt. Bonaparte was Secretary of the Navy and then Attorney General. While Attorney General, he created the Bureau of Investigation...   1903–1910 William D. Foulke 1910–1915 Lawson Purdy 1915–1919 Charles E. Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...   1919–1921 Henry M. Waite  1921–1923 Frank L. Polk Frank Polk Frank Lyon Polk was a prominent United States lawyer and a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell.-Biography:...   1923–1927 Richard S. Childs 1927–1931 Murray Seasongood Murray Seasongood Murray Seasongood was a Jewish American politician, who served as the Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 1926-1930. After his tenure as mayor, Seasongood was appointed as professor of law at Harvard University. He was named as one of the 100 Greatest Ohio Citizens in 1974.- References :...   1931–1934 Harold W. Dodds Harold W. Dodds Harold Willis Dodds was the fifteenth President of Princeton University.-Early life and education:Dodds was born on June 28, 1889 in Utica, Pennsylvania, the son of a professor of Bible Studies at Grove City College...   1934–1937 Clarence A. Dykstra Clarence Addison Dykstra Clarence Addison Dykstra was a U.S. administrator of Dutch descent. He served as the first City Manager in the US in Cincinnati, Ohio after teaching government at the University of Chicago. He then became Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin as well as director of the Selective Service...   1937–1940 John G. Winant John Gilbert Winant John Gilbert Winant OM was an American politician with the Republican party after a brief career as a teacher in Concord, New Hampshire. Born in New York City, Winant held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics...   1940–1946 Charles Edison Charles Edison Charles Edison was son of Thomas Edison to Mina, businessman, Assistant and then United States Secretary of the Navy, and served as the 42nd Governor of New Jersey.-Biography:...   1946 – December, 1950 Henry Bruère Henry Bruère Henry Jaromir Bruère was a Progressive public administrator, reformer and social reformer known for his role as credit advisor to President Franklin D...   January, 1951 – November, 1953 George H. Gallup George Gallup George Horace Gallup was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.-Biography:...   December, 1953 – November, 1956 Cecil Morgan Cecil Morgan Cecil Morgan, Sr. was a leader of the legislative forces that in 1929 attempted to impeach Louisiana Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr...   December, 1956 – December, 1959 William Collins January, 1960 – November, 1962 Alfred E. Driscoll Alfred E. Driscoll Alfred Eastlack Driscoll was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Senate representing Camden County, who served as the 43rd Governor of New Jersey, and as president of Warner-Lambert .-Biography:He was born on October 25, 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...   December, 1962–1970 William W. Scranton William Scranton William Warren Scranton is a former U.S. Republican Party politician. Scranton served as the 38th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967. From 1976 to 1977, he served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...   1970 – November, 1972 Wilson W. Wyatt Wilson W. Wyatt Wilson Watkins Wyatt served as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1941 to 1945 and as Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky from 1959 to 1963. He was a member of the Democratic Party....   December, 1972 – November, 1975 Carl H. Pforzheimer December, 1975 – November, 1978 Robert H. Rawson December, 1978 – November, 1981 James L. Hetland, Jr. December, 1981 – November, 1985 Terry Sanford Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford was a United States politician and educator from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the 65th Governor of North Carolina , a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator...   December, 1985 – November, 1986 John Parr December, 1986–1995 Christopher T. Gates Christopher T. Gates Christopher T. Gates is the Executive Director of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement . PACE is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations and works as a learning collaborative of funders who are working in the fields of civic engagement and democratic renewal. Prior to this, Gates served...   1995 – June 14, 2006 Derek Okubo (interim) June 15, 2006 – December 31, 2006 Gloria Rubio-Cortés January 2007 – present

Chairs of the Board Name Term Terrell Blodgett January 1, 1987 – October 31, 1987 William F. Winter William Winter (politician) William Forrest Winter is an American politician from Mississippi. He served as the 58th Governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984 as a Democrat. He is known for his strong support of public education, racial reconciliation, and historic preservation. Winter is best remembered for the passage of...   November 1, 1987–1988 Henry G. Cisneros Henry Cisneros Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...   1989–1991 George Latimer  1992 William F. Winter William Winter (politician) William Forrest Winter is an American politician from Mississippi. He served as the 58th Governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984 as a Democrat. He is known for his strong support of public education, racial reconciliation, and historic preservation. Winter is best remembered for the passage of...   1993 John W. Gardner John W. Gardner John William Gardner, was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson. During World War II he served in the United States Marine Corps as a captain. In 1955 he became president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and, concurrently, the Carnegie Foundation for...   1994–1996 Anna F. Jones (acting) 1996 William W. Bradley Bill Bradley William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....   1997–1998 R. Scott Fosler 1999–2000 Dorothy S. Ridings 2001–2004 Robert Rawson, Jr. 2004–2007 Elizabeth Hollander 2007–2008 Sandra W. Freedman Sandra Freedman Sandra W. Freedman was the first female mayor of Tampa, Florida. She served on the City Council from 1974 and then as Council Chair from 1983 through July 16, 1986. She completed the remaining term of Bob Martinez who resigned to successfully campaign for Governor of Florida... November, 2008 – present