City of Dallas named finalist for All-America City Award

The honor, which is given through the National Civic League, celebrates the best in local innovation, civic engagement, and cross-sector collaboration.

The theme for 2023 is “Creating Thriving Communities through Youth Engagement” and recognizes communities that are working to improve the health and well-being of young people, with particular attention to efforts that engage young people.

“In Dallas, we offer some amazing programming and amenities for our city’s young people,” Mayor Eric L. Johnson said. “In my office alone, we’ve partnered to create innovative initiatives that involve Dallas’s youth, such as Summer of Safety, Dallas Works, and SMART Summer with Mayor Johnson. The Dallas community knows the stakes. The more kids we keep engaged, the safer and better positioned for success our city will be. There’s no question Dallas is a national leader in meaningful youth engagement.”

Additionally, the Dallas Youth Commission made up of 15 Council-appointed high school students leads numerous projects like youth forums, community service events, litter prevention programs, youth focused initiatives, and a community hygiene closet. The Commission maintains a focus on increasing student voter registration and turnout in local and national elections, and utilizes Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to engage directly with youth in the city. Several elected officials are graduates.

“The newest value of service for the City of Dallas is engagement, and I am excited to see that the City is being honored for its efforts to engage with the youth in the community,” said City Manager T.C. Broadnax. “The youth we work with will soon become City of Dallas leaders, and I know the future is bright.”

Initiatives through the Office of Cultural Affairs and Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs further promote youth engagement within the City of Dallas, including efforts to work with diverse communities to promote civic engagement and closing opportunity gaps for young people of color in the arts.

“I am incredibly proud and honored to serve as Chair of the Dallas Youth Commission. Since joining, I’ve personally seen the impact our commission has had on communities, and I have no doubt it will continue to rise. We strive to impact our community as best we can. Every day, I see us reach that goal and were not slowing down,” said Youth Commission Chair Ricardo Corpus. “The amount of effort, drive, and passion that I see in this Commission is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I can confidently say I work with some of the best youth delegates in the country.”

The 20 finalists for the 2023 All America City Award represent 12 states and range in size from 4,700 to over 8 million residents. The 2023 All-America City Awards will be held from June 9 to 11 in Denver, Colo.

For more information, visit nationalcivicleague.org/america-city-award.