Thank you for joining us on this journey as AFA celebrates 8 years

Eight years ago this month, I joined with fellow mayors across the country and partners in philanthropy, labor, and business to found Accelerator for America. Since then, the Accelerator has stood tall and walked alongside mayors and other local leaders through immense change and challenges during times of federal scarcity and abundance, from the COVID-19 pandemic to today's political and economic shifts. We showed this can be a nation united across geography, party, and demographics, eager to ensure that the American Dream can be realized for all Americans everywhere. By partnering with local leaders on innovative and impactful infrastructure, economic development, and workforce initiatives, we have lifted people living in one stoplight towns and in the nation’s biggest metros alike. In short, we are creating national change from the ground up. We made our nation’s first “Do Tank” that united cutting-edge thinking with the action necessary to accelerate America’s progress. The result: billions of dollars of new investment leading to hundreds of thousands of new jobs revitalizing our communities and empowering neighbors to support their families and cities. While my chapter serving as mayor has been completed, I will always be a mayor at heart – and I am grateful for how far the Accelerator has come and am honored to continue to support its work. During this season of gratitude, I give thanks to everyone who is working on the front lines of our local communities. Our nation still has a clear pathway towards a future together, one community at a time, and there is no brighter light shining the road ahead than Accelerator for America. Thank you, and happy holidays!

Eric Garcetti, Former Mayor of Los Angeles and Founder of Accelerator for America