Village of Winnetka
Winnetka, IL
Robert Dearborn
Summary for 2025
Nestled along Lake Michigan’s North Shore, Winnetka is a community of tree-lined streets, sandy beaches, renowned schools, outstanding parks, quality recreation facilities, and plentiful non-profit and religious organizations. Natural beauty brought early settlers, but through careful planning, Winnetka has maintained a historic, small town charm, as well as family-oriented neighborhoods, while developing into a thriving village for people to live, work, and visit. The village commits to creating habitat for the monarch butterfly and pollinators, and to educating residents about how they can make a difference at home and in our community.
City of Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
Vi Lyles
Summary for 2025
The City of Charlotte provides services to nearly 900,000 residents. The city’s focus areas are Community Safety, Housing and Neighborhood Development, Economic Development, Environment and Transportation & Planning. Charlotte is guided by the following mission: "Charlotte will lead as a global city by continuously improving, protecting, and preserving the environment, its community, and economy, while ensuring equity and resilience - for today’s and future generations." In addition, the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2021, states: "Charlotte will protect and enhance its surface water quality, tree canopy, and natural areas with a variety of trees, plantings, green infrastructure, green building practices, and open space at different scales throughout the entire community as a component of sustainable city infrastructure that addresses the threat of climate change." Lastly, in 2018, Charlotte City Council unanimously adopted the Strategic Energy Action Plan, and since then Charlotte has been taking bold action to strive towards a low-carbon, sustainable, resilient and equitable future.
City of Covington
Covington, KY
Ron Washington
Summary for 2025
Covington, located in Northern Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati, is home to over 40,000 residents and the beautiful 700-acre Devou Park, known for its prairies and pollinator gardens. The city also features pollinator gardens throughout its parks, showcasing a strong commitment to environmental conservation. In 2017, Covington joined the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge under former Mayor Joseph Meyer, launching efforts to support pollinator habitats. Mayor Ron Washington has proudly continued this legacy, reaffirming the city’s pledge in 2025 and leading the charge with the Community Monarch Coalition to expand gardens and implement impactful conservation initiatives.
City of Warren
Warren, MI
Lori Stone
Summary for 2025
Warren Michigan is the most vibrant city in the state of Michigan. While being the third largest city in the State, we believe that Warren has to set the tone for beautiful parks, and extraordinary opportunities to save the monarch butterfly and other pollinators. Mayor Stone is not only committed to educating Warren residents about the importance of having pollinator habitat in the City of Warren, but also getting our residents engaged in maintaining a strong presence with the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge.
Village of Northbrook
Northbrook, IL
Kathryn Ciesla
Summary for 2025
The Village of Northbrook is a northern suburb of Chicago with a population of over 35,000. We are proud to be the home of some of the highest quality nature preserves in Illinois: Somme Preserves. Thanks to our volunteer ecological stewards who have been dedicated to natural restoration in our area since the 1970s, many rare plants and endangered animals nest or pass by our community during migratory periods. Through the Northbrook Climate Action Plan, the Village is committed to reducing community-wide carbon emissions and fostering environmental sustainability.
City of Carrollton
Carrollton, TX
Steve Babick
Summary for 2025
The City of Carrollton, Texas, located within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is a suburban city of approximately 135,000 residents. Carrollton was first committed to the conservation of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the Mayors' Monarch pledge beginning in 2018 and has been continued forward under Mayor Steve Babick. The city is actively engaged with the community in rebuilding community gardens and other conservation efforts to protect and sustain these pollinators.
Town of Annetta
Annetta, TX
Sandy Roberts
Summary for 2025
Annetta has a population of 3153. We work in coordination with the Parker County Master Gardeners to maintain the gardens at Town Hall.
Charter Township of Orion
Orion Township, MI
Chris Barnett
Summary for 2025
Orion Township, Where Living is a Vacation, is a thriving community in Southeast Michigan with an estimated population of 40,000 residents. At 36 square miles, Orion Township is a slice of the best of Michigan's lakes, parks, schools, and communities - boasting more than 4,200 acres of parks and open spaces, including 42 lakes larger than five acres, more than 10 square miles of recreation, and more than 50 miles of safety path and trail ways. By signing the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, Township Supervisor Barnett has committed Orion Township, MI to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators and looks forward to engaging residents in building more pollinator habitats throughout the Township.
Village of Union
Union, IL
Anthony Fredrickson
Summary for 2025
Union is a small village 60 miles northwest of Chicago. We are home to the Illinois Railroad Museum and McHenry County Historical Society. The pollinator gardens add much charm and beauty to our village. We are excited to see the gardens grow and also to see the Monarch population grow.
City of Westerville
Westerville, OH
Kenneth Wright
Summary for 2025
When a community calls itself a “City Within a Park,” you know there’s a true dedication to parks and recreation. With more than 650 acres of parkland, 18,000 trees, 51 miles of trails and four premier facilities (including an expanded 145,000 square foot community center), Westerville lives up to this vision. In fact, thanks to years thoughtful planning, 95% of City homes are located within a half-mile of a developed park. You see, Westerville’s parks aren’t simply a weekend destination, but a core identifying feature of the community. City Council developed a set of Strategic Initiatives the guides decisions about how the city is managed. Environmental sustainability is one of the three lenses the City of Westerville uses to achieve safe and vibrant neighborhoods, connected and engaged residents, an authentic and alive Uptown and a thriving business climate. Westerville has many environmental and sustainable programs and projects underway that demonstrate this commitment and strong public support for sustainability programs/efforts. Efforts in the Parks Department to help the pollinators, and Monarch Butterflies include restoration of garden beds to include pollinator friendly, and native, plant materials; creation of no mow zones; installation of additional pollinator beds; and restoration of wetland areas.
