in the 25,000-100,000 population category. In total, seven cities were honored on March 11th 2013 for implementing programs that enhance and promote cultural diversity in communities. The City Cultural Diversity Awards recognize municipal programs that encourage citizen involvement and show an appreciation of cultural diversity. Cities honored for 2013 are: Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Lake Worth, Florida and Hermiston, Oregon. In addition, three cities were honored as runnersup:

Tempe, AZ; Coral Gables, FL; and District Heights, MD.

The City Cultural Diversity Awards program was established in 1995 by the NBC-LEO to promote cultural diversity in community governance through citizen and community participation. Winning cities are selected from a pool of applicants and are grouped according to population.

In 2009, the Lake Worth NSP2 Consortium (led by the Lake Worth CRA and made up of 20 community based organizations and local companies) was awarded $23.2 million as part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant authorized under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. These funds were used to purchase over 100 foreclosed and abandoned properties and provide

rehabilitated or brand new housing to revitalize a culturally diverse area of the city.

“It is always satisfying being recognized for the hard work you do but this Award is special to us at the CRA. We strive, with our consortium partners, to reach out to those who voices may not always be heard. Our mission includes building and strengthening our diverse community,” says Joan Oliva, Executive Director of the Lake Worth CRA. “On behalf of our Board, Staff and many consortium partners we are thankful for the opportunity to provide much needed housing and jobs in our City and

hope we can continue these efforts for years to come.”

In addition to NBC-LEO, the annual awards are co-sponsored by four other National League of Cities’ (NLC) constituency groups: the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials (APAMO); the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Local Officials (GLBTLO); the Hispanic Elected Local Officials (HELO); and Women in Municipal Government (WIMG).

Each city was honored at the Celebrate Diversity Breakfast during NLC’s Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C. The Reverend Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC’s ‘PoliticsNation,’ and Founder of the National Action Network, addressed attendees at the breakfast about the importance of cultural diversity in communities.

For more information about the Lake Worth CRA and its programs, please call the CRA office at (561) 493-2550 or visit www.lakeworthcra.org or www.lakeworthnsp.org.

For more information on the City Cultural Diversity Awards, visit NBC-LEO’s website at

http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/networks/constituency-groups/national-black-caucus-oflocal-

elected-officials

The National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials was established in 1970. A constituency group of the National League of Cities, NBC-LEO advocates for the interests of African-American local elected officials. Its mission is to provide African-American municipal officials and their colleagues with forums to share ideas, discussion groups to develop strategies for improving municipal

governance, debates on policy issues and programs that contribute to the success of America’s cities and towns.

The National League of Cities is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.