lead locally.
Deliver abundantly.
member benefits
Connect with peers who’ve done it
- Ask a question in our members-only Slack and hear back from the mayor or councilmember who already took that vote.
- Find the member working on your issue in the Member Portal directory, searchable by state, role, and policy area.
- Meet in person at the annual Member Meeting and at regional meetings.
Learn what worked & what nearly didn’t
- Use toolkits, model language, and case studies in the Member Portal, built from reforms members actually passed.
- Search every Slack discussion, so the answer a member gave last spring is still there when you need it.
Work through the hard problems together
- Virtual working groups go deep on one problem at a time, starting with housing finance and permit reform, then the issues members bring next.
- Leave with approaches that worked and language you can take to your council.
- Past sessions include the Housing Finance Mastery Series and the Permit Lab.
Lead a reform from start to finish
- A year-long, project-based fellowship for a select group of Members.
- Bring one reform, work it through with your cohort and advisors, and bring it home.
- What Fellows pass becomes case studies and templates the rest of the network uses.
What we ask
Membership doesn’t cost money. It costs time and candor. Show up for at least one in-person event a year (the annual Member Meeting or a regional gathering), attend two webinars, and join the community Slack. In return, you get like-minded peers who’ve done it, and one place to find them.
What Makes an Abundance Elected
Supply-Side Focus
Aftab Pureval
Mayor
Cincinnati, OHMayor Aftab Pureval inherited soaring rents, long-time residents being displaced, and declining taxes in Cincinnati. Instead of just subsidizing demand, he removed constraints on increasing housing supply. He won a controversial up-zone near transit and business districts and created dedicated revenues for affordable housing construction.
De-Bottlenecking
Lauren McLean
Mayor
Boise, IDMayor Lauren McLean in Boise went to work debottlenecking, after she discovered her city had a shortage of 9,000 childcare slots. She process-mapped the bureaucratic maze and amended zoning to let in-home childcare providers get licenses in half the time, at one-third fewer fees, with 12 hours less paperwork.
Trade-Off Analysis
David Chiu
City Attorney
San Francisco, CAPhoto Credit: Sharon Wickham / SF Free Press
San Francisco’s code required city staff to produce 528 reports. City Attorney David Chiu used an AI tool to find all of them, then walked department staff through a trade-off analysis. In July 2026, supervisors voted 7-4 to eliminate about 140, freeing significant staff time.
Capacity Building
Paige Cognetti
Mayor
Scranton, PAMayor Paige Cognetti in Scranton took office following a scandal (her predecessor is serving a 7-year jail sentence for bribery) and a cyberattack. Her city was officially designated “fiscally distressed”. In her first term, she built organizational capacity by working with staff to move all of their major systems and permit processes from paper to digital. By 2024, Scranton’s credit rating had been upgraded 3 times, and it won the State Secretary’s Award for Municipal Excellence.
Outcomes Obsessed Culture Change
Letty Hardi
Mayor
Falls Church, VAPhoto credit: Hugh Kenny / The Coalition for Smarter Growth
Mayor Letty Hardi in Falls Church, Virginia, has led an outcomes-obsessed culture change by implementing an ambitious 2-year planning process, regularly reviewing new performance dashboards, conducting annual 360-performance reviews for executive leaders, and practicing what she calls a “culture of curiosity.” This outcomes-obsessed city has won consecutive livable community awards and was recently named America’s healthiest city.
Courageous, Curious & Humble
Tim Keller
Mayor
Albuquerque, NMPhoto Credit: Sandia National Laboratories
Mayor Tim Keller of Albuquerque embodies courage, curiosity, and humility. Since 2017, he has challenged the “myth of scarcity” and shown courage and supply-side thinking by leading a controversial rezoning for his city. In his 2026 State of the City address, he named abundance directly, acknowledged that government can add friction to residents’ lives, and made easier building permits and affordable housing on city land top priorities.
Why Members are Joining
Corey Woods
Lauren MClean
Leonardo Williams
Paige Cognetti
Frequently asked questions
How much time does membership take?
To remain active, Members must participate in at least two network activities per year (either in person or online), and share what you’re learning. Activities include the annual Member meeting in December, working groups like the Permit Lab, and regional meetings.
Who can join?
Elected city or county government officials committed to delivering results in their communities. This includes mayors, deputy mayors, vice mayors, city councilmembers, alderpeople, county supervisors, county board members, county commissioners, and county clerks.
What does it cost?
Membership doesn’t cost money. It costs time and candor. Show up for at least one in-person event a year (the annual Member Meeting or a regional gathering), attend two webinars, and join the community Slack. In return, you get like-minded peers who’ve done it, and one place to find them.
When can I apply?
The current application period is November 5, 2026, through December 31, 2026.
Can I nominate a colleague?
Yes, submit nominations through the nomination form
What happens after I apply?
Staff reviews your application and if accepted you are invited to an onboarding series with other newly accepted electeds.
Who sees what I share?
Our online community on Slack, Member Portal, Wiki, and Directory are for Members only. We don’t share Member stories publicly or introduce Members to press without their consent.
Can I apply for the Fellowship?
The Fellowship is only open to members. If you’re accepted, you will have the opportunity to apply for this year’s fellowship. It’s a 12-month, project-based program. Learn more
I’m not an elected official. How can I get involved?
AEN is for sitting local elected officials. The Abundance Network has local chapters and a national membership program, and organizations can work with us.
Is AEN partisan?
AEN is not partisan. We are a 501(c)(3) open to all affiliations, and we don’t track party registration among our Members.