Columbus Receives Cultural Diversity Award

Published on March 13, 2024

The City of Columbus has been named the winner of the National League of Cities (NLC) 2024 City Cultural Diversity Awards, which celebrates leadership in developing effective programs to improve cultural diversity within local communities.

Specifically, the Columbus Housing Strategy was showcased as an example of broad collaboration to advance equity and affordability, advancing numerous regional efforts and initiatives to improve quality of life for lower- and middle-income families, people of color and older residents who disproportionately experience the hardships stemming from housing scarcity, and rising rental and real estate costs.

“If you work in Central Ohio, you should be able to afford to live in Central Ohio,” said City of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “We launched the Columbus Housing Strategy to not only make our community more affordable for more families, but to strengthen the diversity and vitality of all our neighborhoods. We’re moving with a sense of urgency and purpose to get this done because we know that our future is bright if and only if everyone is a part of it.”

Submissions for the program were grouped by population and evaluated for creativity, community impact and program scope. Columbus received its award in the category for cities with populations greater than 500,001. With more than 40 applicants in contention for the 2024 awards, Columbus was one of only four communities selected.

“Congratulations to the winning municipalities of NLC’s Cultural Diversity Awards,” said NLC President and Mayor of Rancho Cordova, CA, David Sander. “This year's award holds special significance as NLC celebrates 100 years of strengthening cities, towns and villages across the country. Your leadership in promoting inclusivity and diversity as a core value of your city is an essential step toward cultivating more equitable and inclusive communities all over America in the next century.”

Winners were recognized at NLC’s 2024 Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 11. To learn more about the NLC City Cultural Diversity Award winners, visit www.nlc.org.