Imagine a local government where every position is filled by impassioned, skilled individuals dedicated to their craft and their community. What would that mean for your organization? This month’s magazine is dedicated to workforce issues. The future of our profession and the future of local governments require a skilled and ready workforce. Attracting top talent to local government has always been challenging, and rising incivility makes it even harder. 

At last month’s ICMA Annual Conference, Bob O’Neill, Kendra Stewart, and I presented an update to some research into the profession that was originally done by John Nalbandian, PhD, and Bob in 2018. The workforce challenge was the number-one issue identified in 2025! What’s stunning about this is that it was not an issue identified in 2018. The local government landscape is changing, the workforce challenge is multi-faceted, and we need to identify bold solutions to meet future and emerging needs. 

From 2022 through 2024, I facilitated an interdisciplinary initiative of local government professionals called Local Government 2030. This initiative was envisioned by Wally Bobkiewicz, city administrator of Issaquah, Washington, and brought together 40 individuals under the age of 40 representing all disciplines of local government. This diverse group also identified the workforce as a critical issue facing their communities in every discipline. Two of their initiatives were designed to move the needle in creating a pipeline of individuals interested in working for local government—one by eliminating barriers to hiring justice-impacted individuals (Promised Pathways), the other by focusing on local governments as a top employer (Grow a Resilient Workforce). If you are interested in those initiatives, there is more information available here.

Building the pipeline of professional local government leaders has been a focus for ICMA as well. More than 20 years ago, we launched a NextGen initiative to build the pipeline and encourage career development. We continue this work through our Local Government Management Fellows program, and in recent years, grant funding has supported our work with the U.S. military to prepare veterans to lead local governments through their SkillBridge program and veterans fellowships.

Another program that ICMA offers is our Bob Turner Scholars Internship Program. As city manager of Boulder, Colorado, Bob Turner hired a high school kid as a summer intern, who went on to begin his career in local government. Many years later, that individual, James Kean, endowed a scholarship in Bob’s name that allows ICMA to partner with communities to place high school students in their organizations. You never know how passion for public service can be ignited, and ICMA is eager to partner with you in addressing the local government workforce challenge issue.

The local government leadership role that we carry is as complex as the issues we face. This month you have an opportunity to learn from colleagues and consider proven and emerging best practices that have relevance in your own context. As I said in Tampa, we will shape the future of local government by what we do today. We must do that with intention. I encourage you to think about how your local government is experiencing the workforce challenge and how you can address it.