Metro leaders work with neighborhood and community groups to improve quality of life, enhance citizen engagement and empower residents to take steps to improve their local communities. The administration is committed to making sure that Nashville remains a place where people can live, work and play in their neighborhoods. That means protecting and enhancing our networks of parks, libraries and community centers, as well as preserving the vibrant arts, entertainment and music culture that has made Nashville an international destination. The mission of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement is to improve the quality of life in Nashville's neighborhoods through a more informed, active and involved citizenry and enhanced governmental response to community needs.
Programs and Initiatives
The Neighborhood Academy
The Neighborhood Academy is a free community involvement program dedicated to getting residents immersed in a wide array of programs and sectors within Metro Nashville City Government. Within our curriculum, we work together to gain insight about our city’s neighborhoods and provide a platform for promoting and influencing policy that can positively change our neighborhoods and city.
Learn more about The Neighborhood Academy
Youth Programs
Mayor's Youth Council
The Mayor’s Youth Council fosters an eco-system in cultivating our younger generation into civic leadership for the City of Nashville. We want to ensure that each young leader is a benefit through molding and utilizing their ingenuity and ideas that promote and connect them with our city’s public agencies. With the voice, energy, and insight of our younger generations mixed with the expertise of city leaders and stakeholders, the Youth Council seeks to address key issues that affect the lives of Nashville residents. In turn, it promotes and recognizes the contributions of our young leaders.
Learn more about the Mayor's Youth Council
Youth Violence
The Mayor believes reducing youth violence through trust, transparency, and opportunity will take all of the community working together to solve this challenge. He also believes listening to those whose lives are impacted the most by youth violence is most important. Local young adults can help identify issues that lead to youth violence, what programs and services are already in place, then discussed possible solutions. Through Former Mayor Megan Barry, the culmination of the summits is the Youth Violence Report, which outlines steps moving forward. The summits not only led to the recommendations outlined in the report, they also gave power to hundreds of students to come together. These young leaders discussed their common concerns, learned from one another, and took back those lessons to their friends and classmates that sparked important conversations where it matters most – in our schools.
Learn more about Youth Violence
Education
The Mayor is committed to strengthening Nashville’s public schools and ensuring every child has access to a high-quality public education. The Mayor’s Office works with Metro Nashville Public Schools and the School Board to strengthen the relationship between our public schools and the administration, while also working with Nashville’s non-profit and educational institutions to promote policies that will spur innovation and support our parents and teachers. As the 42nd largest school district in the country, 88,000 students are enrolled in Metro Nashville Public Schools. There are 120 different countries represented in the student body. The Mayor believes that each student in this large and diverse group deserves a high-quality education that will prepare them for a successful life. The Mayor is committed to expanding high quality Pre-K, ensuring that all students have access to effective teachers and leaders, helping students continue their education after high school, and funding schools to meet the needs of curriculum, instruction, support services, and capital improvements.
Internship Program
The Mayor’s Office strives to create real-world opportunities for interns to see how local government shapes the community. Interns are assigned to a staff member to gain expertise in a particular area and work on independent projects. In short, interns help the Mayor’s Office “get stuff done.” Unpaid positions are available during the fall, spring and summer semesters. Students must be able to work at least 15 hours per week in the fall and spring semesters. During the summer, students must be available to work a minimum of 21 hours. Students are encouraged to receive course credit for the experience.
Learn more about the Mayor's Office Internship Program
POWER Youth
POWER Youth Summer Employment Program connects local leaders between the ages of 14-24, with access to meaningful work. It brings together community resources, private business, public sector, and local university job partners. This program elevates the abilities, cultural pride, and community responsibility of our younger generation to remove barriers to create successful passage into adulthood.
Community Beautification
The Metro Beautification and Environment Commission works to make Nashville clean, safe, and attractive. The commission coordinates the efforts of volunteers, city departments, business and community groups, and government agencies to provide environmental programs, beautification projects, as well as training and educational opportunities for the residents and visitors of Nashville and Davidson County.
The Commission comprises volunteer representatives from the 35 council districts appointed by the mayor to serve three-year terms.
Metro Beautification supports neighborhood clean-up efforts all year as well as the Mayor’s Spring Clean-ups.
Learn more about conducting neighborhood clean-ups and requesting free supplies.
Mayor's Office of New Americans
The Mayor's Office of New Americans fosters partnerships and collaborations with community organizations, departments, and agencies of the Metropolitan Government. The group develops and administers programs that empower and engage New Americans in Davidson County and that promote a knowledgeable, safe, and connected community. The Mayor’s Office of New Americans coordinate with community organizations and with departments and agencies of the Metro Government and advise the Mayor on policies related to New Americans in Davidson County.
Contact Information
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Brittany Irby
Director of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement