Cal Cities releases 2021 Annual Report

Explore the year in review of advocacy, educational, and organizational achievements

The League of California Cities 2021 Annual Report is now available online. The yearly review highlights the organization’s legislative, legal, educational, and organizational accomplishments. Holding true to our mission, Cal Cities delivered for cities again in 2021 by advancing key legislative priorities and providing high-caliber educational opportunities.

Working together with our local leaders and partners, Cal Cities helped to secure funding and resources related to each of the priorities included in our 2021 Action Agenda, including historic funding for broadband, more than a billion dollars for affordable housing and infrastructure, billions of dollars to help those experiencing homelessness, and billions more to help California’s cities recover from the pandemic and rebuild.

Cal Cities also expanded educational offerings, both virtually and in-person, and continued to move forward our Advancing Equity initiative and supported city leaders with resources, education, and training.

Cal Cities also boosted its membership, with four cities joining as members this past year, bringing the total number of member cities to 479 out of 482, the highest number of member cities since 2009.

The annual report also includes progress on the Cal Cities Strategic Growth Plan, which charts the organization’s course for success. This includes the restructuring of the League Partner program to maximize the value of the program; the implementation of changes to Cal Cities’ governance system to enhance membership engagement in leadership opportunities, increase our overall effectiveness in fulfilling our mission and vision as an organization, and ensure that the pathway to leadership is transparent and inclusive; and the transformation of our Cal Cities brand identity, with a new logo and colors that infuse a rejuvenated pride, energy, diversity, and vitality into the mission of strengthening California cities through advocacy and education.

“None of these achievements could have been possible without the tireless efforts of the talented Cal Cities staff, who remain steadfast in carrying out our mission of serving our members,” Executive Director and CEO Carolyn Coleman states in the report’s opening message. “I would like to thank them, as well as our 2020-21 Cal Cities officers and board members for their leadership and guidance, and our League Partners for their generous and continued support of this organization. Together, with all of you, we are driving policies that support California cities and the residents who call our cities home.”

Read the full report online and check out the video version, Cal Cities by the Numbers, for our 2021 review in under two minutes.