FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Diana Lind (267) 639-9419 Diana@americancity.

org Next American City Hosts Annual Vanguard Conference in St. Louis PHILADELPHIA, PA The national non-profit organization, Next American City, will host its third annual Vanguard conference October 10-12, 2012 in St. Louis. Next American Vanguard is a fellowship program that gathers emerging young leaders in various fields such as urban planning, entrepreneurship, community development, transportation, sustainability, design, art and media. This years event will bring together a 40 under 40 of urban leaders representing 24 different cities from across the United States. Among many other exemplary leaders, this years class includes: Matt Tomasulo, creator of Walk Raleigh, a program that encourages walking the Raleigh-Durham area. Nolan Marshall, a public education leader from New Orleans Danya Sherman, director of public programs for Friends of the High Line Melissa Konur, planning director of Downtown Fort Worth Inc. Bethany Ritz, associate director of Climate Resolve in Los Angeles Robert Linn, an analyst for Data Driven Detroit Brandon Whitney, a co-founder of Internet start-up, ioby Also represented in this years class are employees of major national urban initiatives such as Living Cities, Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Delivery Teams, Reconnecting America, US DOT and many others. More information on Vanguard members is available here: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/the-2012-next-american-vanguard-class The two-day event will be written about on americancity.org and readers can follow updates through Twitter with the hashtag #nacvanguard. Conference Spotlights St. Louis

Over the course of two days, the Vanguard members, and alumni from previous conference years, will participate in a variety of activities that will highlight best practices in St. Louis and the cities where the Vanguard members come from. In addition to workshops lead by Vanguard members and national experts, the group will participate in several local activities including a tour of St. Louis; talks given by local leaders such as Mayor Slay, Joe Edwards, Amos Harris, Richard Baron, Bruce Lindsay and others. Part of what makes this conference so special is the opportunity to connect local leaders together and help form a national urban agenda, said Diana Lind, Executive Director & Editor in Chief of Next American City. At the same time were fortunate to have a strong host committee in St. Louis that is showing urban innovations particular to that city. This years event was made possible with support from a host committee, including Kevin Farrell of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, and Jason Pierce and Sarah Dirsa, both of HOK, among others. Local sponsors include: AT&T, Downtown Community Improvement District, McCormick Baron Salazar, Regional Arts Commission, Preservation Research Office, SEED, Stifel Nicolaus, STL-Style, US Bank. For more information, please visit americancity.org/vanguard or contact Next American City at (267) 639-9419.