Alliance for Regional Stewardship Organizational Champion Award Overview & Instructions

Program Overview

The Alliancefor Regional Stewardship (ARS) is a national, peer- to-peer network of regional leaders working across boundaries to solve tough community problems.  As part of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives’ (ACCE) Community Growth Educational Foundation (CGEF), ARS members come from business, government, education, and the civic sectors and share a common commitment to collaborative action and achieving results. 

The ARS Organizational Champion Award recognizes regions that are committed to building strong and vibrant communities based on the four principles of regional stewardship: an innovative economy, livable communities, social inclusion, and a collaborative style of governance.   

Awards Process and Criteria

One ARS Organizational Champion Award will be presented to either a region or a regional alliance/organization during the awards gala at the ACCE Annual Convention.  Applications must address the following seven questions and be no more than seven pages in length. Supplementary materials will not be considered in the judging process and should not be sent.  This is a paperless application process; all applications must be submitted electronically to cpearson@acce.org.

Award Timetable

• Application available: February 1
• Submission deadline: April 6 (deadline extended) April 30
• Finalists notified: May 25 (extended due to submission deadline extension)
• Award presented: August 2 in Louisville, KY

Each application should include the following sections:

1. Program Description, Contacts and References: Complete the application cover sheet.

2. Principles: Select one or more of the following “Principles of Regional Stewardship” on which to focus your application. Briefly describe how the applicant has made progress in this area/these areas.  [Score: None. Informational only.]

• Innovative Economy:  An economy where people and places can compete based on speed, quality, flexibility, knowledge and networks
• Livable Community: Attractive places to live and work that address environmental sustainability, sound land use, innovative urban design, housing and infrastructure investments, and community amenities
• Social Inclusion: Ensuring that all people and neighborhoods, particularly those that are disadvantaged, have opportunities to fully engage in regional prosperity and governance
• Collaborative Governance: Finding creative ways to govern regionally and to address public issues that transcend jurisdictional and sectoral boundaries and align public, private and civic objectives

3. Context: What are the particular contextual challenges or issues that make achieving progress in one or more of the Principles noteworthy? [Score: 10% of application.]

4. Innovation and Excellence:  What is innovative, outstanding and/or compelling about the applicant’s efforts or approach to its mission? [Score: 35% of application.]

5. Performance:  How has the applicant demonstrated performance in one or more of the regional principles, in the following three ways? [Score: 35% of application.] 

• Regional Capacity: Ability of the region’s citizens, leaders, organizations and institutions to effectively achieve its intent
• Tangible Results: Actions, policies, investments that have been made to demonstrate actual progress
• Potential for Sustainability: Commitments or strategies to sustain progress over time.

6. Cohesiveness:  How does the applicant’s work link to and enhance other regional objectives and strategies? [Score: 10% of application.]

7. Replicability:  How might the work of the applicant be replicated, inform or benefit other regions? [Score: 10% of application.]

Refer to Appendix A for a more detailed description of the Principles of Regional Stewardship; and to Appendix B for guidance in answering questions 2 through 7.

Submission Information

Email your complete application to Chaaron Pearson at cpearson@acce.org. Remember, hard copy mailed applications will not be accepted.

Judging

The award-winner will be approved by the ARS Advisory Board, upon the recommendation of a judging panel that will include Advisory Board members and other expert regional practitioners.  Panel members will evaluate submissions, make reference checks and obtain other independent information as necessary.

Scoring

As noted above, the judging panel will evaluate and score answers to the above questions, weighing each as follows:

• Principles: informational only, not scored 
• Context: 10%
• Innovation and Excellence: 35%
• Performance:  35%
• Cohesiveness: 10%
• Replicability: 10%

Appendix A: Principles of Regional Stewardship

Appendix B: Answer Guidelines

Reminders

• Application should be no more than 7 pages long (excluding the cover sheet)
• No supplemental materials will be considered
• Application must be submitted electronically
• Applications must be submitted by April 6 (deadline extended) April 30

For more information on the Organizational Champion Award, please contact Chaaron Pearson at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives at cpearson@acce.org or (703) 998-3540.