National Civic League, President, Denver, CO
About the National Civic League
Democracy is not only shaped in Washington, DC. It is lived every day in local communities across America: in city halls, neighborhoods, public institutions, and the relationships between residents and the places they call home.
For more than 130 years, the National Civic League (the League) has worked to make democracy more inclusive, participatory, and effective. Founded in 1894 as the National Municipal League, the League emerged from a gathering of civic reformers including Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Brandeis, and Frederick Law Olmsted, who believed that stronger local institutions and more engaged citizens were essential to a thriving democracy.
That conviction has guided more than a century of civic innovation. The League's Model City Charter helped shape modern municipal governance, while its landmark All-America City Award, established in 1949, has celebrated communities that confront difficult challenges through collaboration, civic engagement, and local ingenuity. Across generations, the League has helped advance new approaches to public participation, community problem-solving, and democratic renewal.
Today, the League continues to connect the ideas, institutions, and people that make democracy work. Its programs and initiatives—including the All-America City Award, Center for Democracy Innovation, Civic Genius, National Civic Review, and Model City Charter—bring together civic leaders, local governments, community organizations, and residents to strengthen civic life and elevate promising practices nationwide.
The League has also entered an important period of organizational evolution. Through its recent mergers with Local Policy Lab, which helps local governments embed resident voice into everyday decision-making, and Spread the Vote, which works to remove barriers to electoral participation, the League has expanded both its capabilities and its reach. Together, these efforts create opportunities to connect access to democracy with sustained civic participation and more inclusive public institutions.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the National Civic League operates nationally through a geographically distributed team, a network of Senior Fellows, and a Board of Directors representing diverse civic, governmental, nonprofit, and other institutional perspectives.
At a time of renewed national attention and investment in strengthening American democracy, the League is especially well positioned to elevate a perspective too often missing from the conversation: local governments and communities are where democracy is most directly experienced and where meaningful civic renewal can take root. With its remarkable history, relationships, and practical experience, the League has an opportunity to bring that perspective more prominently into national conversations, partnerships, and investments, translating its many strengths into greater relevance, influence, and impact.
Learn more at www.nationalcivicleague.org.
The Opportunity
The National Civic League seeks an accomplished, entrepreneurial, and mission-driven President to lead the organization into its next era of impact.
This is a consequential moment for the organization. With a distinguished legacy, talented and committed staff, longstanding relationships across the civic sector, and a newly expanded portfolio of programs, the League has a powerful foundation from which to grow its relevance and influence. Realizing that potential will require a leader who can pair a compelling vision for the future with the practical experience and discipline to build a stronger, more sustainable organization.
The next President will have an opportunity to shape what the National Civic League becomes in the years ahead: how its programs work together, where it can contribute most meaningfully, how it engages the communities and institutions it serves, and how it builds the financial and organizational capacity to sustain its mission.
The work will be both externally ambitious and internally focused. The President will be expected to cultivate philanthropic support and strategic partnerships, elevate the League's national profile, and communicate a compelling case for the importance of civic engagement and local democracy. Equally important will be the work of bringing greater cohesion to the organization, empowering its people, strengthening collaboration and accountability, and working with the Board to make thoughtful choices about strategic priorities and resources.
Success will require more than inspiration or subject-matter expertise. The League seeks a proven executive who has led people, managed organizational complexity, raised significant resources, and translated strategy into results. The ideal candidate will combine confidence and decisiveness with humility, curiosity, and a genuine commitment to building trust.
This is an opportunity not simply to steward an institution with a remarkable history, but to help define its future—strengthening the organization while expanding its contribution to civic life across the country.
The President reports to the organization's Board of Directors and holds overall responsibility for organizational leadership, strategic direction, financial sustainability, external relationships, and mission impact.
Search Process and Contact
The National Civic League has retained Vitric Advisors, in partnership with DSG | Koya, to lead the search for its next President. The engagement is co-led by Daniel Cohn, President & CEO of Vitric Advisors, and Liz Lombard, Managing Associate at DSG | Koya.
DSG | Koya is coordinating application management and correspondence on behalf of the search team. Interested candidates are encouraged to express interest in the role using this link or contact Liz Lombard via email: [email protected]. All inquiries and expressions of interest will be handled with discretion and appropriate confidentiality.
Accessibility and accommodations: Vitric Advisors and DSG | Koya are committed to an accessible and inclusive search process. Individuals who need assistance expressing interest online or require reasonable accommodation may contact [email protected]. Candidates selected for interviews will receive additional information about requesting accommodations during the interview process.