December Newsletter

December Newsletter

Passing the Baton – In Person!

For the first time in two years, Accelerator for America gathered in person to celebrate, and, of course, to advance our work to help cities nationwide reduce economic insecurity within underserved communities.

Just before our December 2 meeting in Los Angeles, we announced that Mary Ellen Wiederwohl will succeed Aaron Thomas as our President and CEO on January 1, 2022. Aaron will remain active with us as he starts a new role in the private sector. Mary Ellen's hometown newspaper, the Louisville Courier Journal, covered the news. Check it out here.

At our working meeting in Los Angeles' historic Union Station, we followed up on that incredible news by announcing that Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix and Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City will serve as our next Advisory Council Co-Chairs! Mayor Eric Garcetti's term of mayor ends in December 2022, and his nomination by President Biden to serve as Ambassador to India means his term could end even earlier.

Make no mistake, however – he is still the mayor! So addition to hosting us in what is widely known as "the last of the great train stations," Mayor Garcetti made sure the Accelerator's delegation was able to tour LA's Regional Connector project, which brings together five transit lines to dramatically increase connectivity in the LA Metro subway and light rail network and make it possible for one seat trips of more than 30 miles.

Our visit to LA ended with an incredible dinner hosted by Mayor Garcetti featuring amazing food, drink and fellowship as our Advisory Councilmembers, Board Members, staff and friends all came together under the stars (and heat lamps). Thanks to everyone who made the trip, and we look forward to seeing more of you next year.

Our Latest Initiative

Cities large and small alike need help managing the gusher of new federal funding, and the Accelerator has emerged as the critical resource for mayors all across the country who want to make sure they best invest these funds to help people in the short term and change the trajectory of families and communities in the long term.

Complementing our Stimulus Command Center initiative to help cities best benefit from the American Rescue Plan, we announced at our Los Angeles meeting our new "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: A Federal Investment Guide for Cities."

The guide was produced with support from the US Conference of Mayors and in partnership with the brilliant Bruce Katz and his team at Drexel University’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab.

To give America's cities a running start on their work to benefit from the IIJA, we went through all 2,000 pages of it and distilled it into a guide focused on the $352 billion in programs that are of the highest priority to cities, including direct contact information with relevant federal agencies.

You can access and read our IIJA Investment Guide here. For more information, please reach out to our Program Manager for Transit and Infrastructure, Ross van Dongen, at ross@acceleratorforamerica.org.

Happy Holidays!

As we gather for the holidays, we wish you good health as we all continue to navigate this ever-evolving pandemic. We deeply appreciate all of the work you do on behalf of your communities and for people all across America.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT


And keep following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram as we create national change from the ground up, from coast to coast.

Aaron Thomas
Outgoing President and CEO | Accelerator for America

Mary Ellen Wiederwohl
Incoming President and CEO | Accelerator for America

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