If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was that our mental health simply wasn’t prepared for it. Your top priority has been to act as a guiding force for your residents, many of whom were experiencing job insecurity, anxiety about the pandemic and the economy, or the loss of loved ones. You have fought for greater support and resources for your community’s most vulnerable groups, including those with preexisting mental health issues.
The list can go on about the various scenarios we have faced, but one theme was clear: supervisors and employees quickly became overwhelmed, exhausted, buried, stressed—and it inevitably took a toll on our mental health. Many people, from your staff to your residents, struggle with anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts, but few learn how to fight back. A new ICMA product offering and partnership with Cope Notes, is the best first step toward a healthier brain.
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Explore how Cope Notes can help you create affordable and convenient mental health support for your community:
What is Cope Notes?
Cope Notes is an SMS service that delivers unique, handcrafted messages from mental health professionals that are proven to support, emphasize, and encourage recipients.
The software connects individuals with anonymous, easy-to-use support on a daily basis, prioritizing prevention by investing in resilience and positive health outcomes to curb crises before they arise.
Cope Notes combines the highly impactful and proven sciences of ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to provide preventative mental health support and education to countless members of your community.
A Solution for Proactive Mental Healthcare
- Qualifies for CARES Act funding.
- Proven to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and more.
- Fulfills the growing demand for virtual mental health support.
- Accessible to historically under-served populations without smartphone or internet access, such as seniors, veterans, foster families, low-income households, and the homeless community.
- Dramatically more affordable than traditional mental health services.
- A turnkey solution that takes almost no time or effort for the government to execute.
Who Would Benefit from Cope Notes?
Local government employees, at-risk populations, under-served populations, and residents at large.
Cope Notes is designed to serve and improve any user’s mental health needs, regardless of a diagnosis. Even those in good mental health can benefit from Cope Notes. Cope Notes emphasizes preventative treatment strategies that seek to instill users with the skills, tools, and knowledge to manage their mental health and prevent potential crises.
How Cope Notes Works
- Subscribers sign up to receive daily text messages from Cope Notes.
- Cope Notes interrupts negative thought patterns by injecting positivity at random points throughout the day.
- Subscribers are encouraged to read, internalize, and interpret these messages based on their current feelings and situation in life.
- They are also encouraged to interact with the messages by writing back their feelings and thoughts - allowing them to speak freely without judgment.
Related Content
Quantitative Research
A research summary that shows Cope Notes is successfully decreasing depression, anxiety, and stress within 30 days
Community Case Study
How Pasco County, Florida, used Cope Notes to impact the mental and emotional health of their community.
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Complimentary ICMA Coaching Program webinars give local government professionals of all career stages the opportunity to bolster skills and learn about new and leading practices, strategies, tactics, developing issues, and trends in the profession of local government management. Participation in free coaching webinars also qualifies for ICMA-CM (Voluntary Credentialing Program) credit.
- Register for the coaching webinars or watch the archives from the links below
- Download the 2025 flyer
- Join our coaching email list to receive program information.
- Become a State Partner: We are grateful for the ICMA Coaching State Partners who enable us to provide this program free of charge to both members and non-members. State Partners are able to create their own coaching program by simply utilizing all of ICMA's resources. We encourage more state associations to become partners. For more information about partnerships, email: coaching@icma.org
Miss a webinar? Watch it anytime! High quality video recordings of Coaching Webinars are available in two places:
- 2020 up until present time can be found in our ICMA Learning Lab, simply click on the "Shop Courses" button and use the search function to look by name or by "ICMA Coaching". You will need to register in order to watch the video.
- If you are searching for a coaching webinar that took place in 2019 or earlier, you can find them in the 2008-2019 Archives.
2025 Live Webinars
Use these free webinars as professional development events for your team! Webinars are available free of charge to anyone with an ICMA free account. Your team can watch the event and use our discussion questions to have a post-webinar professional development session. Use the links below to register for the webinar through our ICMA Learning Lab.
All webinars are 90 minutes, and will be held 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 12:30 p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET. Preregistration required for all live webinars. Can't watch it live? Register and watch the recording.
Succession Planning: A Guide to Unlocking Potential and Preparing for Leadership Transitions
Date: Wednesday, March 12
AI-Powered Governance: Transforming Strategic Planning in Local Government
Date: Wednesday, April 16
Resilience Reimagined: Building Unbreakable Communities, Teams, and Organizations
Date: Wednesday, May 14
New Job Overnight: How to Make the Successful Transition
Date: Wednesday, September 17
Your Career, Your Compass: Proactive Career Development Strategies
Date: Wednesday, October 15
Workforce Revolution: Trends Transforming the Workforce and What You Can't Afford to Overlook
Date: Wednesday, November 19
Questions or suggestions for an outstanding presenter, contact coaching@icma.org.
The ICMA Cybersecurity Leadership Program is a 12-week mentorship based collaborative readiness program led by CISOs and other experts who deliver their proven frameworks and insights on how to lead and secure a network and an organization – protecting data assets and the enterprise brand. This program coaches participants on what it means to think and act as a cybersecurity leader.
As ICMA’s research has demonstrated, local governments of all sizes are susceptible to cyberthreats and must actively prepare for these threats with cybersecurity investments. This leadership development program prepares existing and emerging leaders to better defend their most critical assets.
— MARC OTT, ICMA Executive Director
What are the objectives of the program?
| KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES GAP | COMPETENCY | CISO EXPECTATIONS |
| LEADING AND MAKING DECISIONS | LEADING | Execute as a (local government) leader to facilitate, influence, persuade, and negotiate with individuals, teams and groups toward decisions |
| PLANNING AND MANAGING CHANGE | ADAPTING | Leverage the power of systems thinking to mitigate risk and empower people during organizational and market fluctuation |
| BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS | COLLABORATING | Establish alignment of individual purpose with team meaning and organizational mission to energize efforts and maximize results |
| PRESENTING INFORMATION CLEARLY | COMMUNICATING | Manage messaging based on stakeholder need, sensemaking, and simplicity to create clarity in meaning, confidence, and community |
| EXECUTING TO ACHIEVE VALUE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY | DELIVERING VALUE | Focus on projects and processes (and the people associated with them) while linking execution to strategy to deliver value to community |
How is the program structured?
With intentionally designed asynchronous and synchronous activities and rich content and application-focused outcomes, the program takes a whole-solution approach to cybersecurity leadership rather than a focus on siloed activities. You can find the complete course breakdown here.
Here is a list of program activities:
- Breakout Group Meeting – 60-minute meeting (in-person or virtual) amongst breakout group members (typically 10-12 participants).
- Breakout Group Summary – These posts are for the rest of the cohort to see what your breakout group discussed. Each week your breakout group’s designated leader or scribe will write this post which will be seen by the entire cohort.
- Discuss with Breakout Group – Share your thoughts, perspectives and comments with your breakout group. These will be seen by you, your breakout group, and faculty.
- Discuss with Cohort – Share your thoughts, perspectives and comments with your cohort. This is an online threaded discussion and you are expected to engage in with your colleagues. Posts will be seen by all participants and faculty.
- Live Event – 60-minute, virtual meeting conducted via web conference with your entire cohort and facilitated by your faculty mentor.
- Read – Read a document, case study or article.
- Reflect – Your online reflections are your private notes and thoughts. They will only be seen by you.
- Surveys or assessments – You will also receive occasional surveys on the platform for you to answer questions and submit responses that will help you shape your own learning journey and provide us valuable feedback to shape future courses.
- Watch – View a brief video from your faculty presenters.
How does the ICMA Cybersecurity Leadership Program compare to other cybersecurity programs?
What keeps you up at night?
| ICMA Cyber Program | University Training | Boot Camp Program | Technical Training | |
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Who Should Attend?
Existing and emerging front-line and mid-level leaders interested in improving their cybersecurity capabilities, team engagement, and organizational outcomes. In addition to IT professionals, this program may also work well for cyber organizational partners in finance, operations, HR, and other disciplines who are interested in learning more about cybersecurity leadership and overall organizational risk management.
What is the Cost of the Program?
| RETAIL | ICMA MEMBERS | NON-MEMBERS | |
| PRICE | $2,495 | $1,995 | $2,495 |
The retail cost is $2,495 per participant, however ICMA Members pay $1,995 - a 20% discount! Non-ICMA Member fee is $2,495.
Can I count this toward my ICMA Credentialed Manager status?
Yes. ICMA will allow 48 credit hours for this program. In addition, completion of this course can be applied to other credentialing programs--for example SHRM, PMI, and CISSP.
Next Steps...
Whether you'd like more specific information about the program, or you're ready to register now, your next stop is the program registration page.
The Emerging Leaders Development Program (ELDP) is designed to help early- to mid-career professionals build knowledge, skills, and abilities in the basic management and technical topics that managers need to know to be successful. Through a unique format that blends monthly teleseminars with senior credentialed managers or public administration professors, ELDP minimizes your time away from work and maximizes your local government expertise.
Program Details
The Emerging Leaders Development Program is being reimagined. For other leadership opportunities, please visit our leadership development page.
