100 Best Communities for Young People
Apply Now for the 2011 Competition!
Is your community one of the nation’s best places for kids?
Does your community make youth its number one priority?
Is your community dedicated to improving life for young people, and working to end the national high school dropout crisis?
If so, America’s Promise Alliance and ING want to know about it!
Tell us about the programs, services, policies, and collaborative efforts that make your community an outstanding place to live, learn and grow by applying for the 2011 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING.
Begin the application process today by completing the short program registration. Click here to register! The registration is the first step toward applying for recognition, and will allow you to access the full application.
The final application deadline is May 27, 2011, but early submissions received by May 4 will be eligible for two special awards:
- one $2,500 grant recognizing an outstanding local dropout prevention program; and
- one $2,500 scholarship to the author of the youth testimonial that best captures the spirit of the 100 Best Communitiesprogram.
For additional information about the application process, including a step-by-step guide, please download our FAQs document.
Who should apply?
The 100 Best Communities application is rigorous, and requires knowledge about your community’s programs, services and policies. The application is often completed by a group of individuals, with representation from local government, schools, youth-serving organizations, businesses and other relevant sectors of the community. Young people are also often involved.This program recognizes communities, which we define as geographic areas with defined borders and resident populations for which reliable demographic data is available. This could include cities, towns, counties, and school districts. Individual organizations or schools are not eligible for recognition.
Application deadline is May 27, 2011.
Questions?
Please contact Jordan LaPier, Senior Director, 100 Best Communities for Young People, at (202) 657-0635 or100BestHelp@americaspromise.org.
What is the 100 Best Communities competition?
The 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING is an annual competition, now in its fifth cycle, that rewards and recognizes communities making extraordinary efforts to reduce dropout rates and provide outstanding services and supports to their youth. These communities, while not without their own challenges to overcome, have demonstrated a significant and lasting commitment to their youth for which they deserve to be recognized and commended.
The 100 Best Communities are intended to be representative of the nation as a whole. Each year, the winners vary dramatically in size, location, demographics, resources, and approaches to their unique challenges. Past winners have ranged from small towns, such as a mobile home community in Minnesota; to some of the nation’s largest cities, including New York City, Chicago and Houston; to counties and school districts.
We encourage all communities who are dedicated to making youth a priority and ensuring that all youth have access to outstanding education and support services to apply for this recognition. Our decision is not based on a community’s wealth or resources, and no specific approach to addressing the dropout crisis is given preference. Every application is assessed by America’s Promise Alliance staff and the winners are chosen from a group of finalists by a blue-ribbon panel of national leaders on youth issues.
What will the winning communities receive?
After hearing that class sizes in Detroit Public Schools could be raised to 62 students a class, 
