New Initiatives Committee

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

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
• Engaging and retaining front line staff
• 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

Spring 2024 New Initiatives Approved Proposals

Projects approved for funding during the Spring 2024 cycle include:

• YP Summit: Submitted by the Young Professionals Committee, this event will build upon the 2022 and 2023 virtual summits, providing a comprehensive annual event. The summit aims to empower the next generation of public works leaders, representing APWA's investment in the future of public works, and underlining a clear path to ensure sustained growth of the organization and the industry as a whole, in line with APWA's vision and strategic objectives. The event was held in conjunction with PWX in August 2024.
• Small Cities/Rural Communities (SC/RC) Roundtable: Submitted by the Small Cities/Rural Communities Committee, the SC/RC Traveling Roundtable initiative facilitates discussion of key issues and challenges by public works agencies in small cities and rural communities and shares those discussion outcomes with the APWA membership. The two-day annual educational opportunity will be held in a different location each year, with the first tentatively scheduled for Spring 2025.

1. Scoring Grid

The following provides options by which the committee may evaluate a proposal for funding (as needed).