About Us
Since 1992, American Cities Foundation (ACF) has worked to improve the quality of life for children, youth, and families through systematic change. Our programs connect specific constituencies to initiatives designed to revitalize and uplift urban communities. These initiatives include youth and adult workforce development, small business development, and environmental conservation. Overall, ACF’s strategy is to promote revitalization efforts that are sustainable and encourage economic development by creating and implementing innovative programs that uncover best management practices for addressing issues facing urban communities.
We seek to promote the revitalization of urban communities through the development of common sense grass-roots solutions to urban problems. Within our home community of Philadelphia, as in other metropolitan regions, we are faced with separate and unequal societies. We see centers of affluence and centers of poverty. The challenge is to create urban policies that allow us to work together to move forward in finding solutions that decrease the disparity and improve the quality of life for all.
ACF projects advance an agenda to empower urban residents and revitalize neighborhoods and cities. Our focus is on implementing programs that can be used as models to create success stories across our city and our nation. We are developing model projects that address many of the serious problems confronting cities:
- Economic Development
- Youth Development
- Urban Environmentalism
- Green Collar Workforce Development
ACF is committed to serving the community through its programs:
- Project NEAT – An environmental physical improvement and education project
- Pathways Out of Poverty—A work group advancing “Green Collar Job” development and training
- Youth Workforce Development – A program assisting youth with career exposure and leadership development)
- Project TRANSIT – A program preparing urban youth & business owners for opportunities in transportation
- Project RISE— A program supporting the creation and growth of neighborhood businesses