America 250 Foundation

The nationwide planning and programming team focused on five major areas: federal partnerships; states partnerships; tribal partnerships; national partnerships; and national signature programs. Signature programs: the signature programs team continued development of national signature, engagement, and joint partner programs outlining the path to 2026. During the fourth quarter of the year, the team further refined select program concepts. These included a historic sites/ national passport initiative aiming to showcase the landmark spaces where american history happened and our stories are told. We also began to envision the next iteration of the america250 awards by developing a competition framework with a contest administrator. Finally, the team issued a request for proposals for national semiquincentennial convention master planning, which was paused in september 2022 for reevaluation. America250 continued collaborating with partners on joint programs. This included further ideation and implementation of an america250 podcast in partnership with prx productions and discussions on the young people's continental congress in 2024, a community historians program, and maritime programming for 2026. The team also continued building out america250's programming strategy and framework. This included adoption of a sophisticated management structure to receive and advance initiatives. Using our themes and objectives as guiding principles, we are evaluating and enabling program ideas from prominent partners for relevance and quality. This process will help us identify the level of support required, develop an appropriate form of partners, and bring national distribution networks to bear in support of the commemoration. National partnerships: the national partnerships team continued to build and harness partnerships to help drive scalable and impactful participation in the commemoration. Throughout the last quarter, the team has focused on simplifying and refining the partnership process to increase awareness and engagement while building out our partner portfolio. This included lowering the barrier to partnership through reshaping legal agreements. A streamlined short-form branding agreement aims to increase partner awareness and activation in fy 2023. America250 continues to balance responsiveness and strategic outreach to priority partners. Throughout the fourth quarter, the team has met with existing and potential national partners to brainstorm programmatic activations and collaborations. America250 connected with existing and potential partners during the association of african american museums, american association for state and local history, and association for the study of african american life and history conferences in order to build trust, expand reach, and build awareness for the commemoration. During the latter conference, our national partnerships manager facilitated a workshop encouraging organizations to consider how they may want to engage with and plan for the semiquincentennial. Federal & international partnerships: the federal team serves to bring together all corners of the federal government, including executive agencies, independent agencies, commissions, boards, committees, and other related entities, to participate in the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the united states. As part of the fourth of july and discover america250 campaigns, the federal team engaged partners to participate in these public engagement initiatives. In the never forget 9/11 blog post, a250 referenced americorps' volunteer portal as a resource to search for volunteer activities on september 11 and highlighted the department of education's constitution day website in a250's constitution week blog post. At the september 19 commission meeting, ex officios presented their programmatic content and plans for the semiquincentennial. The federal team continues to engage the u.s. Postal service, government publishing office, u.s. mint, census bureau, veterans affairs, and other important agencies in the planning process, and attended the congressional black caucus Foundation annual legislative conference to expand our outreach. International planning is gaining momentum in partnership with the Foundation for art and preservation in embassies (fape), who signed a trademark sublicense agreement in september. In october, fape will announce their a250 partner program, gift to the nation 250, with a gala dinner at the u.s. department of state. In honor of fallen service members, america250 will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, arlington, on veterans day 2022. Former associate justice of the supreme court of the united states has appointed amy white, senior judicial assistant to justice anthony kennedy, to be the point of contact for his office. At the smithsonian, doug hall, acting deputy under secretary for administration, has been designated the ex officio representative. Tribal partnerships: on wednesday, july 13, the tribal partnerships team hosted its second circle of tribal advisors meeting with native nations and regional, state, and national intertribal organizations. Native american and Alaska native participants joined from various organizations including: first alaskans institute, azachorok, Inc., oneida nation of Wisconsin, national native american boarding school healing coalition, and the national park service. Since july, the tribal partnerships team has held roundtables with the native community including oneida nation of Wisconsin, white earth band of chippewa, and onhsagw: de' cultural center (seneca iroquois national museum). Additionally, the tribal partnerships team has begun fostering partnerships through meetings with the tribal and cultural affairs team of national park service region 1, and national association of tribal historic preservation officers. A250's sr. Manager of tribal partnerships, presented on engaging the native community at the american association of state and local history annual conference on september 16. The workshop, "keeping it local: bringing the revolution to your neighborhood" included speakers from other state historical organizations. In the presentation, a250 provided an overview on how to engage from three levels of increasing engagement, followed by a q&a session. There has been significant interest from state 250th commissions in working with america250 on tribal engagement in the semiquincentennial. A250 has participated in state commission convenings, including regional subgroup convenings, to provide recommendations and answer questions. A best practice guide on communicating to native audiences has been developed in partnership with our marketing and communications team. The marketing tool answers questions of who, what, where, when, and why when disseminating information to native american, Alaska native, and native Hawaiian audiences. The tribal partnerships team met with the chickasaw nation of Oklahoma, museum association of new york, native arts and cultures Foundation, and national museum of the american indian, as well as hosting a listening session at the association of tribal archives, libraries, and museums annual conference. Promotional materials were also provided to participants at the american indian Alaska native tourism association annual conference. State partnerships: america250 seeks to ensure that each and every american has the opportunity to engage with and participate in the commemoration of our nation's 250th anniversary, and most americans will have the opportunity to do so at the local and state level. Therefore, america250's state partnerships team is encouraging all u.s. states, territories, and the district of columbia to establish their own official 250th commissions through executive order or legislation in order to lead statewide planning for the anniversary. Commissions created - as of september 30, 2022, thirty (30) states have established semiquincentennial organizations - Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, north carolina, north dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, rhode island, south carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, west Virginia, and Wisconsin. Legislation considered - during the 2022 legislative session, three (3) states - California, Mississippi, and Missouri - considered legislation to create 250th commissions but failed to approve the bills before their sessions ended. High interest - as of september 30, 2022, five (5) states, in addition to the three noted above, and one (1) territory are very interested in creating 250th organizations - Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Oklahoma, puerto rico, and south dakota. Legislation was passed in the Hawaii legislature urging the governor to create a semiquincentennial commission. The states team continues to hold quarterly