City governments face significant workforce challenges that threaten their ability to provide services to their residents and limit overall economic growth in communities. NLC is partnering with the American Institutes for Research to launch the Growing and Retraining Our Workforce (GROW) Learning Lab.
GROW is designed to:
- Support city governments overcome long-standing workforce challenges and transform their approaches to talent development.
- Help cities recruit, train, and retain a skilled workforce and create talent pipelines for critical local government jobs.
- Engage city leaders, along with education, workforce, and community partners, to identify and adopt new politics, practices, and programs to meet their workforce needs.
- Build on-ramps to high-quality local government jobs that provide stability, good benefits, positive workplace experiences, and opportunities for advancement.
NLC is seeking three cities committed to enhancing their support for their municipal workforce to participate in an 8-month intensive action planning process to build city capacity to drive changes in programs, policies, and practices that advance economic opportunity for city residents and employees.
Participating cities will benefit from free coaching, technical assistance, and connections with peers tackling shared challenges. Additionally, participating cities will help inform NLC’s future work, and possibly serve as national models for their peers.
Who is this Learning Lab For?
This initiative is for cities, towns, and villages willing to come alongside the National League of Cities (NLC) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in a learning venture to address persistent municipal workforce challenges and talent development opportunities.
Important Information
- To be considered for this initiative, applicants must submit a fully completed online application by 11:59 PM EST on Monday, January 19th, 2026.
- The support of your city, town or village’s top executive is required.
- Cities will be expected to participate in one in-person convening in September 2026 in Washington D.C.
Informational Webinar
NLC will host an information session for Learning Lab on December 9th, 2025 at 2 pm ET.
Download the RFP and Apply Now
Begin the application process by downloading the RFP. All submissions must be collected by 11:59 PM ET on Monday, January 19, 2026.
About our Partner: AIR
NLC is partnering with the American Institutes for Research to launch the GROW Learning Lab. The American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and delivers technical assistance to solve the most urgent challenges related to workforce, education, and health. AIR’s Employment & Economic Opportunity Program Area works with public, private, and philanthropic organizations to advance worker economic mobility, business vitality, and community well-being. Our expert technical assistance providers, evaluators, and researchers provide customized solutions rooted in evidence-based practices to national, state, and local partners.
From the Event: Understanding the Role of CDFIs in City-Led Economic Development
Info Session: Municipal Workforce Learning Lab
Strategies to “Stack the Deck” for Homeowners
- HomeServe
Executive Actions Fact Sheet: Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
Executive Actions Fact Sheet: Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions