By John E. Kyle

The nation's largest gathering of municipal officials who are working to improve the lives of children, youth and families in their cities and towns will begin on September 25 in San Antonio, Texas.

More than 300 mayors, city councilmembers, municipal staff and representatives of local school and community partners will share in networking, learning and leading at NLC's 2005 National Summit on Your City's Families. The summit is being planned by NLC's Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) in collaboration with the city of San Antonio and the Texas Municipal League.

General Sessions to Focus on Leading
Leadership for children and families will be the focus of the opening keynote address by Carol Bellamy, president and CEO of World Learning. World Learning is a private, non-profit organization that promotes international and intercultural understanding, democracy, social justice and economic development through training, education and field projects in over 100 countries.

Bellamy recently completed ten years as executive director of UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund). She previously served as director of the Peace Corps and was the first woman to be elected president of the New York City Council.
A second general session will showcase George Haddow - a partner with Bullock & Haddow, a disaster management consulting firm. His presentation about municipal preparedness, risk prevention and crisis management is timely in these weeks immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Joining Haddow on a panel following his remarks will be local government experts in services to children and families.

Haddow also serves on the faculty of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University. Previously, he was deputy chief of staff to then-FEMA director James Lee Witt.

On Wednesday, Mayor Ron Gonzales of San Jose, Calif., and Mayor Bill Purcell of Nashville, Tenn., - current and past chair, respectively, of NLC's Council on Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Council) - will kick off the closing general session with a panel discussion on effective local leadership in strengthening families and improving outcomes for children and youth.

Then, the session will feature NLC's first-ever use of audience response technology. Each Summit participant will have multiple opportunities to offer opinions on issues affecting youth, education and families. The results will be tabulated and shown on large screens. These responses will be used later both by participants as they plan strategies and actions in their home towns and by the YEF Council as it finalizes its platform for cities and towns.
 
Learning
There will be a wide array of workshops, skill-building sessions and discussions that highlight the latest innovations from municipalities across the nation. In addition, there will be site visits to centers, programs and schools that showcase creative strategies and approaches being utilized by the City of San Antonio.

Workshop topics run the gamut from "City-School Partnerships that Work" to "Supporting Parents of Young Children" to "Finding and Keeping Allies in the Business Community" to "Youth Voice, Youth Leadership."

Networking
Sharing with peers is a theme running throughout the Summit, especially through interactive discussions led by skilled facilitators. They will be organized around both individual topic areas and key programmatic challenges such as financing strategies, collaboration and team building.

These small group sessions will encourage individuals with similar job responsibilities and/or issues to share common leadership ideas and strategies and to develop ongoing, supportive communication.

Teams
Cities that bring a team of four or more are eligible to participate in special consultations. Each consultation will be tailored to the wishes and needs of the team related to youth, education, and/or families. An expert will meet with each team individually to assist in developing a relevant, specialized plan of action for that community.

Registration
Registration is still available and can be done in advance or on-site. The registration fee is $500 for NLC members and $575 for non-members.

Details: Link to the Summit webpage for the registration form, draft agenda, list of workshops, hotel details, and information on previous conferences at  For questions, contact Sharie Wood at 202-626-3087 or iyef@nlc.org.