Welcome to the
Five Communities Project

The Center for the Future of Arizona believes strongly in the strength of communities, the talent available and the benefits of coming together with a unified vision.

 

As a result of what we learned in two studies -- the Gallup Arizona Poll and the Arizona Civic Health Index -- the Center launched the Five Communities Project, our first statewide effort to help citizens and leaders work together to achieve The Arizona We Want. The purpose of the project is to help communities develop and fund action plans that address the issues people feel strongly about, such as job creation, education, healthcare, the environment or civic engagement.


In early April, the Center invited communities of all kinds to develop grant proposals that describe how they could achieve results on one or more of the citizen goals identified by the Gallup Arizona Poll. A total of 96 communities responded from all regions of the state, and approximately 75% of their Letters of Intent indicated that efforts were already underway to create the kinds of public-private partnerships need to move Arizona forward.

 

The 96 proposals were reviewed individually by a Selection Committee and on Friday July 15, the Center announced the 33 Arizona communities chosen to move on as Finalists in the Five Communities Project.

After two rounds of proposals, the statewide/national selection committee has selected 10 finalists.

   
 
  Click on the map to see a geographic distribution of the 96 participants.
  • Each finalist will be awarded a $5,000 development grant to help offset the cost of completing their proposals.
  • Representatives from the 10 communities will be introduced at the National Conference on Citizenship to be held in Arizona on September 22 - 23, 2011. This is the first time the national conference has been held outside Washington, D.C.

    In addition to the 10 finalists, all 96 communities are invited as honored guests to a number of events taking place at both the Day of Civic Action and the National Conference.

Ultimately, 5 communities will be selected to collaborate with the Center on a national funding proposal to provide the resources needed to implement each of the community plans over a three-year period.