APWA New Initiatives
The New Initiatives Committee has been established to ensure that APWA continues to adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing environment. The aim is to enrich and support our members' entrepreneurial spirit in providing valuable experiences, products, services, and education to APWA stakeholders. The following steps outline how the New Initiatives Committee will receive, process, and evaluate proposals to potentially fund.
Objectives
The principal objective of the committee is to support APWA’s Strategic Plan by funding new initiatives that further the following goals.
Strategic Goals
- Value: Promote the value of public works and enhance its visibility and awareness.
- Voice: Be the voice of public works to government leaders, the public, and media.
- Education and Credentialing: Provide excellence in education and credentialing.
- Membership and Chapters: Deliver an outstanding and valuable membership experience in collaboration with chapters.
Strategic Initiatives
| Initiative | Purpose Statement | Success Statement |
|---|---|---|
| DEI | APWA leads the way in promoting and demonstrating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable community. | The membership reflects the population they represent, people are included, and the association's services are delivered equitably. |
| Public Visibility | Future public works workforce, government leaders, and media know and appreciate what the public works industry does to advance their quality of life. | Future public works workforce, government leaders, and the media can generally describe how public works improve their everyday lives. |
| Workforce | Public works industry has a global, sustainable, and diverse workforce to meet current and future challenges. | Agencies rely on APWA's inclusive culture to provide education, training, and support for all existing and new employees to develop and expand their skills, meeting current and future needs. |
The Committee supports these goals by evaluating and providing funding, twice a year, for new initiative proposals. The Committee coordinates with both the APWA Finance Committee and Strategic Planning Committee through the chairs of these committees. Based on a recommendation by the Finance Committee, the Board shall approve through the budget process a designated dollar amount each fiscal year to be available for new initiatives. The funding will come from the New Initiatives Reserve Fund as set out by APWA Policy B2.2A.
The New Initiatives Committee is authorized to approve proposals and provide funding within the dollar amount approved by the Board of Directors.
New Initiatives proposals may include but are not limited to:
- Increasing membership recruitment and retention
- Enhancing and creating new innovative educational and credentialing programs and resources
- Enhancing the member experience through chapter development and leadership training
- Expanding global technology exchange
- Enhancing technology for the digital transformation of the Association
- Targeting industry research to further the profession
- Enhancing APWA’s public visibility and community outreach
- Conducting federal advocacy campaigns – permissible as per 501(c)(3) status
- Any initiative that furthers the APWA Strategic Plan
1. Scoring Grid
The following provides options by which the committee may evaluate a proposal for funding (as needed).
2. Create Application
Please download and fill out the New Initiatives Proposal. Once completed, send your proposal to newinitiatives@apwa.org.
3. 2024 Calendar
- New initiative proposals due: February 26
- Committee review: February 29–March 31, 2024
- Award new initiatives winners: April 30, 2024