Award Cycle

Applications are accepted throughout the year. Applications submitted on or before September 30th will be considered for the upcoming application cycle. Click Here for more information on the Innovations in American Government Awards program.

Innovation in American Government Awards Application

Click here for information on applying for the 2009 Innovations in American Government Award.

The finalists for the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards as well as the Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family System Reform were announced on June 3, 2008. These programs will compete for the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards to be announced and honored at an awards gala and reception on September 9, 2008 in Washington, D.C.

Finalists presented before the National Selection Committee on June 12, 2008. To watch their presentations, please view the following links (in both RealMedia and MP4 formats):

Watch Finalist Presentations:
Part I, Part II, Part III

Part I: (RealMedia) (MP4)
1:30 p.m. - Introduction
1:40 p.m. - Intelligence Community Civilian Joint Duty Program, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
1:50 p.m. - Learn and Earn, North Carolina
2:00 p.m. - Global Maritime Domain Awareness, US Department of Transportation
2:10 p.m. - Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Pennsylvania
2:20 p.m. - Youth Leadership Advisory Team, Maine

Part II: (RealMedia) (MP4)
2:50 p.m. - Getting Ready: Keeping Communities Safe, Arizona
3:00 p.m. - Teacher Residency, Boston Public School District, Massachusetts
3:10 p.m. - Division of Youth Services, Missouri
3:20 p.m. - Acquisition Fund, New York City, New York
3:30 p.m. - Welcome Back Center, California

Part III: (RealMedia) (MP4)
4:00 p.m. - Project Zero, New York City, New York
4:10 p.m. - Access Plus, Pennsylvania
4:20 p.m. - Knowledge Management, Virginia
4:30 p.m. - MassDocs, Massachusetts
4:40 p.m. - Solid Waste and Energy Management, Yukon River Tribes

	National Selection Committee	David Gergen, Chairman National Selection Committee

Each year, the members of the Innovations National Selection Committee meet to select the winners of the Innovations Awards. To view the current members of the Committee, along with brief biographies click here.

In 2007, the Ash Institute celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Innovations in American Government Awards Program. This milestone is an opportune time to revisit the impact of and lessons learned from government innovations worldwide, as well as to identify areas for new research in the field of government innovation. The Ash Institute is executing a constellation of activities surrounding the 20th Award Year, commenced at the awarding of the 20th Year of Innovations Award Winners in the fall of 2007, and culminating in an international conference where that will bring together finalists and winners of the Innovations in American Government Awards from the past 20 years and their counterparts from across the world.

The Innovations in American Government Awards Program, throughout its history, has generated a great deal of research based on winning and finalist programs and on the study of innovation. Below are the different types of research related to Innovations which others will find useful in their own work. The links below offer more information on Harvard Kennedy School case studies, books on government innovation, Ash Institute publications, as well as outside resources, some of which are produced by winners of the Innovations Award.

Since 1985, the Innovations in American Government Awards Program has recognized over 400 innovative programs and awarded a total of nearly $20 million in grants. Of these programs, 181 have been named winners and received $100,000 grants. An additional 266 programs were named finalists.

These programs represent the finest initiatives undertaken by American government during the last 20 years. Visit the Government Innovators Network to learn more about these creative government initiatives.