Innovations Finalists Close in on 2002 Awards

As this Enews went to press, 15 creative programs at all levels of government across the country were readying their final competitive efforts to win the prestigious 2002 Innovations in American Government Award.

Five of the 15 were chosen and announced May 7 as winners of $100,000 each, capping a day of presentations in Washington to the award programs’ national selection committee. The remaining 10 finalists receive $10,000 each, with all prize funds used to support replication activities. Judges base their decision on originality, significance, effectiveness, and transferability. The 16-year-old innovations program spurs the translation of creative ideas into problem-solving programs that serve as highly visible examples of best practices throughout this country and overseas. Since it began, the program has recognized nearly 300 government initiatives and awarded them almost $18 million in grants.

Of the 15 finalist programs for 2002, one is federal, six are state, seven are city, and one is regional. They are the survivors of 99 programs initially selected for the annual competition from nearly 1,000 applicants. Their innovations represent nine areas of government reasonability and services: health care and welfare, energy, education, geographic information, environmental protection, crisis response and information systems, courts and enforcement, families of drug offenders, electronic government, and public contract operations.

One example, among many, of how winning programs spread their message was the visit in February by 30 members of the current class of Excellence in Government Fellows to the MESA organization in Oakland. An innovations winner in 2001, MESA is an academic enrichment program directed at educationally disadvantaged students to enable them to excel in mathematics and science and graduate with math-based degrees. Administered by the University of California, it works with private industry and a range of California educational institutions and native American education centers. Writing in MESA’s newsletter, its president recalled emphasizing to the visiting Fellows that partnership is a central secret of MESA’s success – “the strong partnerships between education, community, industry, and government that we have carefully nurtured through the years.”

The innovations awards are a program of the Institute for Government Innovations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The program is administered in partnership with the Council and funded by the Ford Foundation.