Thank you for your interest in applying to participate in the 2023 NLC Capstone Challenge Series. This program brings together NLC member cities and strategic partners to create solutions to member needs.

NLC’s Capstone and Enterprise Partners have submitted applications outlining proposed projects, informed by their expertise and history of working with cities. Based on member interest, NLC will match member cities with a strategic partner to work together on these projects and develop a solution over the next six months.

Each working group will consist of one strategic partner, one municipality (or a small group of municipalities, if applicable), and one NLC staff member as a liaison and resource. Working groups will work on the project together throughout the summer and fall, concluding by early 2024. The Series will culminate with an event where the group with the best project will receive an award.

Please review the project ideas and rank them, with 1 indicating highest interest. You only need to rank those that you are interested in participating in – please do not assign a ranking to projects that you do not want to work on.

In this application, you will have the opportunity to indicate interest in proposed projects from NLC Capstone and Enterprise partners. Members will be matched with projects based on fit and member and partner interest. Not all applicants will be matched.

If you would like to save your progress and return to complete the application later, you may utilize the "Save & Resume Later" feature located at the bottom of each application page. Clicking on this feature will take you to a page with a link to access your saved application at a later time. Please note that you will not be able to advance to the next page of the application until all required fields have been completed.

This form is due April 28th at 5 PM ET.

If you have any questions or technical difficulties, please reach out to Annie Osborne at aosborne@nlc.org.

To participate in this program, members should be prepared to commit to at least once-monthly meetings with working groups from June to late 2023, 8 hours+ of additional time each month working on the project, and a virtual or in-person in early 2024.

There is no financial cost to members to participate in this program. Partners will be providing their services pro bono for the duration of the program period. Please note that accepted members must commit to full participation in the entire program, identify a staff member to serve as the project lead, and be prepared to engage with NLC staff and partners before, during and after the program.