National Association of Counties

Signature Projects

The NACo High Performance Leadership Academy empowers frontline county government professionals with fundamental, results-oriented leadership skills.

Learn More

  • Justice
    Basic page

    The Stepping Up Initiative

    In May 2015, NACo and partners at the CSG Justice Center and APA Foundation launched Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails.
  • Leadership
    Basic page

    NACo High Performance Leadership Academy

    The NACo High Performance Leadership Academy is an online 12-week program that will empower frontline county government professionals with the most fundamental leadership skills to deliver results for counties and communities.
  • Basic page

    County Leadership Institute

    The County Leadership Institute is a multi-day program hosted in Washington, D.C. by NACo and Cambridge Leadership Associates. CLI strives to build upon the leadership of elected and appointed county officials through thought-provoking education focused on the Adaptive Leadership Model.
  • Transportation & Infrastructure
    Basic page

    Keeping Counties Moving

    Since 2015, NACo with support from the Federal Highway Administration has worked to assist county officials and staff in exploring the nexus between transportation innovation and investments that promote long-term economic resilience.
  • Basic page

    Resilient Counties Initiative

    The NACo Resilient Counties Initiative builds leadership capacity to identify and manage risk, and prepare counties to become more flexible and responsive to system shocks and stresses. It has a holistic approach to resilience, examining social and economic resilience, sustainability and disaster management.
  • Basic page

    Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge

    The challenge aims to improve measurable health outcomes and promote health, wellness, equity and social interaction through practical, evidence-based strategies and cross-sector collaboration.
  • Basic page

    Healthiest Communities

    Healthiest Communities is an interactive destination for consumers and policymakers, developed by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation.
  • Basic page

    Healthy Counties Initiative

    Healthy Counties focuses on enhancing: public-private partnerships in local health delivery, acccess to, and coordination of, care for vulnerable populations in the community and community public health and behavioral health programs.
  • Justice
    Basic page

    Data-Driven Justice

    The Data-Driven Justice initiative represents a growing network of counties that are reducing incarceration by developing strategies to identify frequent users of jails, hospitals, homeless shelters and other crisis and emergency services and divert them to effective, community-based treatment and care.
  • Basic page

    Counties Futures Lab

    The Counties Future Lab brings together leading national experts to examine and forecast the trends, innovations and promises of county government with an eye toward positioning America's county leaders for success.
  • Basic page

    Smart Justice

    NACo's Smart Justice efforts aim to build knowledge and capacity for successful justice policies and practices among the nation’s counties.
  • Basic page

    County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute released the ninth annual County Health Rankings​ on March 14, 2018. The County Health Rankings show us where we live matters to our health and provides counties with an annual check-up of their health.
  • Basic page

    Safety and Justice Challenge

    The Safety and Justice Challenge provides support to local leaders from across the country who are working to safely reduce overincarceration in jails, more effectively use taxpayer resources and protect public safety
  • Basic page

    Pritzker Children's Impact Network

    The Pritzker Children’s Initiative (PCI), a project of the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation, is a national effort to promote high-quality early learning and development for children from birth to age three with the goal of improving kindergarten readiness.
  • Basic page

    Coal-Reliant Communities Innovation Challenge

    ​The Coal-Reliant Communities Innovation Challenge supports county and regional leaders in coal-reliant communities with retooling their economies to become more resilient to changing conditions.
  • Basic page

    County Prosperity Summit

    In Spring 2015, NACo worked with counties across the country to host County Prosperity Summits to generate creative solutions around local economic opportunities.

Resources

Upcoming Events

See all events