First — since it’s been a minute — a little bit of history.
Back in 2018 (remember 2018?!), during The Citizen’s first-ever Ideas We Should Steal Festival™, we heard a captivating talk from Cheri-Leigh Erasmus of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Accountability Lab. She explained to our audience of changemakers that Accountability Lab had launched a program in Nepal to try to change the culture of corruption in city government. The premise was to “name and fame” city workers who were examples of high-integrity — instead of defaulting to the more common narrative of naming and shaming bad actors. Since finding success in Nepal, Erasmus and her team have launched the program in 15 countries around the world.
Aha, we at The Citizen thought! This is just what our city, so often held in a negative light when it comes to local government, needs: an opportunity to celebrate city workers who are modeling the best of public service.
So in 2020, The Citizen brought Integrity Icon to Philly, making our city the first American city to host the program.
The response over the last five-plus has been staggering: Since that first year, we’ve received hundreds of nominations, and named and famed 25 astounding Philadelphia city workers, from school principals to police officers to those who infuse our city with art and fuel its creativity.
Now, we’re looking for this year’s winners. And we can’t find them without you. City workers: Nominate your colleagues! Residents of Philadelphia: Nominate the people who make life in our city better!
Keep in mind these criteria, as determined by The Citizen and Accountability Lab: A high-integrity public service employee is respectful and caring; knows their work makes a difference to people’s lives; acts in a trustworthy and transparent way to solve problems the best they can; treats everyone equally, without regard to politics or influence; and goes above and beyond to provide good service to Philadelphians.
This year’s judges will once feature Amy Kurland, who served as a federal prosecutor for 24 years before becoming Philadelphia’s first Inspector General and then a consultant for Bloomberg Associates, where she assisted cities worldwide in their efforts to prevent public corruption; Cynthia F. Figueroa, President and CEO of JEVS Human Services, who formerly served as Deputy Mayor for the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families (OCF); and Raymond Smeriglio, Director, State & Local Government Communications at Comcast, who was previously First Deputy and Chief of Staff for the City’s Rebuild program (and penned this excellent call to civic action).
Be sure to fill out the nomination form by April 1, and spread this call for nominations far and wide. Then, come out to celebrate this year’s winners at our annual Integrity Icon bash at Fitler Club this summer.
We can’t wait to hear all about the people who move our city forward – and we can’t wait to party with you soon!
INTEGRITY ICON AWARDS THROUGH THE YEARS