The 67th Annual National Conference on Citizenship, themed “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Exploring the link between civic engagement and employment” took place September 14 in Philadelphia. NCoC collaborated with the National Constitution Center as its Conference host partner. At the Conference, research was released discussing the connection between civic health and employment, and winners of the first-ever Civic Data Challenge were announced.

By the Numbers
176: In-person participants. Pre-registration list.
506: Unique online viewers
441: Tweets with #NCoC

Program Overview
A full program agenda is available for download at right, as well as links to archived video of many program presentations.

The day started with “Coffee Chats”—small, roundtable discussions on specific topics hosted by prominent sector leaders.
• Sayu Bhowjani, New American Leaders Project: “A New Democracy for a New Majority”
• Jake Brewer, Fission Strategies: “Want to go on a Data?”
• Barbara Chandler Allen, Fresh Artists: “Unexpected Partners in Philanthropy – Kids and Corps Creating Change”
• Dave Deluca, DoSomething.org: “How Gender Construction Influences Service Opportunities for Teenagers”
• Mickey Edwards, Aspen Institute: “How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans”
• Chris Gates, PACE: “Meeting of PACE Board Members”
• Mark Headd, City of Philadelphia: “The City as a Platform: Engaging Citizens to Help Rebuild Government”
• Eric Liu, Guiding Lights Network: “How to Teach Power”
• Martin Laird, IBM: “Scaling Skills-based Service”
• Barbara Stein, Partnership for 21st Century Skills: “Civic Literacy- A Critical 21st Century Skill”


The “plenary” session started off with an artistic performance by renowned Philadelphia storyteller, R. Eric Thomas. That was followed by an official welcome by NCoC’s outgoing Executive Director David B. Smith and Chairman Michael Weiser. They introduced NCoC’s incoming executive director Ilir Zherka and were officially welcomed to Philadelphia by our host partner, David Eisner of the National Constitution Center.

The Conference then received framing remarks from Jonathan Greenblatt of the White House Office on Social Innovation and Civic Participation, and NCoC’s Chief Program Officer Kristen Cambell and CIRCLE’s Lead Researcher Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg officially released our new research report and announced the winners of the Civic Data Challenge.

A panel then discussed the report findings further. The discussion was moderated by CEO of Civic Enterprises and Chair of NCoC’s Advisory Board, John Bridgeland. Panelists were Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, Paula Ellis, Vice President of Knight Foundation, Peter Levine, Director of CIRCLE, and Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The Major George A. Smith HOOAH Award was presented to Capt Chris Marvin, Managing Director of the Got Your 6 campaign. Following a break, a slam poetry performance was given by Jamarr Hall of the Philly Youth Poetry Movement.

A panel discussed the role of corporations and the business sector in cultivating civic and social capital. It was moderated by Washingtonian Editor and NCoC Board Member Garrett Graff, and included one-on-one moderated conversation with former CEO of Chrysler and Home Depot, Bob Nardelli. Additional panelists included Pamela Hawley, Founder and CEO of Universal Giving, Christina Lurie, Owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dina Powell, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and Aman Singh, Editorial Director of CSRwire.

NCoC continued its annual award presentations by offering the Joseph H. Kanter Citizen of the Year Award to Jack Miller and the Franklin Award to the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, the award’s first Cabinet recipient. The inaugural Role Model of the Year Award was presented to Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

Eric Liu conducted a “Sworn Again American” re-naturalization ceremony, and Catie Wolfgang, Chief Service Officer of Philadelphia offered remarks on behalf of Mayor Michael A. Nutter. The event was formally adjourned by Ilir Zherka and concluded with a wine and cheese reception sponsored by KPMG.


Photos
An album of Conference photographs is available on our Facebook page.

Video
The Conference plenary was streamed online at NCoC.net/live. All available video of Conference discussions is available via the links above.

Sponsorship
The 67th Annual National Conference on Citizenship was made possible with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Case Foundation, KPMG LLP, and Clearwire. Media sponsorship is provided by CSRwire. The Conference also appreciates the generous support provided by the National Constitution Center.

Conference Advisory Council
NCoC is honored to be supported by a diverse team of civic sector leaders who offered strategic input on event development, including theme and program structure, identification of partners and speakers, and recruitment of participants.