Act Locally
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Welcome! Whether you're a community leader, a seasoned advocate, a young person looking to turn your concern into action or somewhere in between, you'll find guides, tools and ideas to help you make a difference.
For more resources, inspiring stories and online tools, please visit the homepage of our Action Center.
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- The ABCs of Advocacy. Read our guide to strengthening communities through advocacy.
- Budging the School Budget. A SparkAction guide to influencing school district budgets, with real-world examples.
- The Federal Budget Process in Congress: 2009. What's it got to do with your hometown? Find out!
Tools to Improve Communities
August 26, 2009
The Forum for Youth Investment
Out-of-school programs can help children improve their academic and social skills, but only if managers develop their capacity to implement continuous improvement strategies and improve staff “point of service” interactions with children and youth. This Forum for Youth Investment commentary draws lessons from successful programs in Michigan and Chicago.
August 4, 2009
Public/Private Ventures
Despite recent improvements, the rate of pregnancy among American teens is almost twice that of English and four times that of French teenagers (Singh and Darroch, 2000). Thus, teen pregnancy remains a problem in the United States.
August 4, 2009
America's Promise Alliance
Drawing from the work of leading researchers and educators from around the country, the Alliance for Excellent Education has identified ten key elements that every high school should have in place to ensure that all its students are successful. The list includes challenging classes, a safe learning environment, and skilled teachers.
August 4, 2009
National League of Cities
Strong cities are built on a foundation of strong families. The National League of Cities' Council on Youth, Education, and Families developed a platform for municipal action on behalf of children, youth, and families. With NLC, America’s Promise Alliance challenged every community to take steps toward positive, significant results for children and their families.
July 29, 2009
Create Now
Learn about a few all-stars who, with the help of Create Now and its mentor volunteers, have turned their lives around.
February 18, 2009
The Finance Project recommends a variety of overlapping strategies, including stressing direct benefits resulting from a partnership with business, showing positive results from your youth program and acknowledging partners through public forums to gain in-kind and cash support from local businesses and foundations.
February 4, 2009
Produced by: 
Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest) is a hunger-relief charity with a nationwide network of member food banks and other community programs.
January 13, 2009
National League of Cities IYEF
The National League of Cities is hosting a free hour-long call that will highlight city efforts to use geographic information system (GIS) technology and other tools to map available youth programs and resources and analyze gaps in city services.
January 12, 2009
WireTap Magazine
2008 was a year that saw war, violence, human rights abuses and environmental degradation, WireTap also found powerful examples of young people making a real difference.
November 1, 2008
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National League of Cities