How should professional local government be structured today to best support ethical leadership and professionalism? That question is at the heart of ICMA’s new Call for Research Proposals on Structure, Form and Ethics: The Future of Professional Local Government, now open. 

ICMA will award several $20,000 grants to produce research-based white papers exploring how structural elements of local government can institutionalize professionalism, accountability, and ethical leadership in a modern context. Selected research will be complemented by practitioner responses and culminate in a symposium in August 2027, bringing scholars and practitioners together to discuss findings and implications for future reforms.

Full submission guidelines are available in the CFP. Questions may be directed to Tad McGalliard, Managing Director of Innovation and Research, at tmcgalliard@icma.org.

This initiative offers a rare opportunity to help shape the next chapter of professional local government leadership, management, and service delivery.