Driving Impact with NLC’s Policy Compass

Think about how your city, town, or village currently passes local laws and ordinances.

How do you determine local priorities? How do you assess which areas are feasible, and how do you decide who needs to be involved in crafting the policy solution?

Do you find yourself looking online for examples of what has worked in other cities? Do you feel like you are checking the box when it comes to engaging your community, but you don’t really know if you’re reaching everyone or addressing the most important concerns? Are priorities based on personality, or the loudest voices?

Introducing The Policy and Systems Change Compass

Proven Framework Builds Trust

Today’s city leaders are driven to make meaningful change in their communities, and are often equipped with high quality strategic plans, dynamic visions and vast sums of data.

What’s missing? A clear starting point and repeatable process for moving from plans to policy – and from policy to real, measurable impact.

The Policy and Systems Change Compass offers a step-by-step guide to enacting transformational policies, navigating common barriers and roadblocks, while centering the voices and needs of your residents.  Designed to work with any issue, the Compass can be applied across policy areas. The Compass helps cities orient themselves, align around shared priorities, and move forward with clarity and confidence – together.  

Executive Education and Onboarding

For both newly elected official and experienced local leaders the Compass provides a standardized process for policymaking.

Many local leaders do not have policy backgrounds, and as leaders begin the hard work of governing, this process allows them to bring their experiences and expertise to bear on a proven framework, developed by leading policy experts from the National League of Cities and the Urban Institute.

By following the same core steps every time, teams build shared expectations, strengthen collaboration across departments, and create transparency for residents and partners alike.

Working Hand-in-Hand With NLC

When a city invests in the Compass, they don’t just receive a how-to guide. Here’s what NLC offers with the Compass:

• Access to a team of municipal experts
• In-depth assistance on policy issues and project planning.
• Designed site visits focused on [xxx]
• Coaching calls

Draw on NLC’s century of experience working for – and with – local governments to create a solution that’s right for you.