Democracy Awards to Highlight Innovation and High Performance in Congress

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 - The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) today launched a new award for Congress – the Democracy Awards. The annual awards will recognize non-legislative achievement and performance in congressional offices. The Democracy Awards will go to one Republican and one Democrat in four categories: Innovation; Transparency and Accountability; Constituent Service; and a "Life in Congress" award for workplace environment. A fifth award will be given to one Member of Congress and one congressional staffer for Lifetime Achievement.

"The idea that Congress is broken is firmly entrenched in the public's mind. And we recognize that Congress faces significant challenges to address the needs of our nation." said Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of CMF. "But we also see a Congress comprised of dedicated public servants, striving to improve the lives of their constituents, engaging in innovative methods to perform their work, and creating model work environments for their staff members. By shining a light on these examples of outstanding performance, we hope to provide guidance to other legislators who wish to emulate those best practices, and show Americans a group of Members of Congress and staff who achieve the highest professional standards," he said.

House and Senate personal offices will be invited to self-nominate via an online questionnaire September 11 through November 13. CMF will follow up with offices to gain necessary documentation and adherence to the criteria. From this pool, CMF will select finalists in each category. Finalists will be announced in February 2018. The two winners for each category (one Democrat and one Republican) will be selected by committees primarily made up of former Members of Congress and former congressional staffers. Winners will be announced in June 2018 and an awards ceremony will be held in July to coincide with Fourth of July. In promoting these awards, CMF intends to highlight the best functioning House and Senate offices; to provide examples of innovative practices for other offices to implement; and to enhance and improve the public understanding and trust in Congress.

The Founding Partner for the Democracy Awards is the Bridge Alliance, which provided a generous grant to launch the program. Bridge Alliance is a diverse coalition of more than 80 organizations committed to revitalizing democratic practice in America.

"The Bridge Alliance is proud to support the Democracy Awards," said David Nivens, founder of the Bridge Alliance. "Our member organizations are working hard to fix our politics, improve our governance, engage our citizens, and cross today's political gulf. Certainly the work of CMF in general and the Democracy Awards specifically are perfect examples of the powerful work our members are doing to improve and revitalize the democracy of our nation," he said.

Learn more about the Democracy Awards or see Frequently Asked Questions here

About the Congressional Management Foundation

The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit whose mission is to build trust and effectiveness in Congress. Since 1977 CMF has worked internally with Member, committee, leadership, and institutional offices in the House and Senate to identify and disseminate best practices for management, workplace environment, communications, and constituent services. CMF also is the leading researcher and trainer on citizen engagement, educating thousands of individuals and facilitating better relationships with Congress. Learn more about our work