November 19, 2012
I am thrilled to write you as the new Executive Director of the National Conference on Citizenship. I want to thank my predecessor, David Smith, for his commitment, creativity, and courage during his tenure at NCoC. We wish him good luck. This work is deeply personal to me. I am a naturalized American, my family having fled the Balkans as political refugees when I was a just a young boy. We grew up in New York fighting for our American dream. I know first hand the deep, meaningful, and important responsibility entrusted to those who live here. America is a land of prosperity and opportunity, but only if we make it so by working for the change we want to see and by playing an active role in strengthening our communities. The common “wisdom” is that our country is polarized politically and that too few people are involved in the civic life of our country. At NCoC, we believe that Americans are telling a different story – a story about people helping communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy; serving on the PTA; donating food to others for Thanksgiving; connecting with friends through social media; advocating for policy changes, and contributing their time and talents at their local community centers. We see an America that is experiencing a quiet civic reawakening. NCoC’s goal is to shine a light on this reawakening and, with your support, to bolster it. We believe that increasing civic engagement requires a “movement.” By that, we mean that all sectors of our society – nonprofits, community associations, governments, corporations, and others – need to be committed to providing people with the means to help strengthen our country. We want to work with you to build that movement. Our first step is to continue telling the story of civic engagement in America through these NCoC programs: • ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl478]@– This is the first initiative to measure and rank corporate America’s commitment to community. The Civic 50 is a partnership among NCoC, Bloomberg, and Points of Light, and 50 exemplary corporations were recognized at ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl480]@ November 8. • ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl479]@– Through our ongoing partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, granted to us by the Serve America Act, we will once again release the largest, most comprehensive data set on civic participation in December. • ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl481]@ – We will continue to work with partners across the country to further our commitment to making civic data meaningful and applicable to decision making and action planning. • Localizing Civic Health – This year, we add new partners in Michigan, Georgia, Texas and Missouri to our growing network of 30 ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl482]@ and ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl483]@partner communities that also includes Oklahoma, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, New Hampshire, and many more. • Millennial Civic Health – The Millennial generation is one of our country’s greatest civic assets. Working with Mobilize.org, CIRCLE and the Harvard Institute of Politics, we will delve into the unique civic characteristics of this demographic. • Civic Data Challenge – Building on the success of ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl484]@ NCoC and our partners plan to continue hosting initiatives that democratize our research process and uncover new findings, presentations, and uses of civic data. • Civic Health and Unemployment – NCoC and our partners will continue our commitment to understanding how civic participation can help communities weather times of economic uncertainty. The ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl485]@ on this issue lay an important and promising groundwork for this issue moving forward. These programs are critical, but they are only the first step. The next step is working together to figure out the best way to increase civic engagement in every sector of our society. I know that is an ambitious goal. But, I also know that we must achieve this goal if we are to keep the fabric of our country strong. I look forward to working with you in the months and years to come. Yours in Service, Ilir Zherka Executive Director, National Conference on Citizenship