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.

Sign Up to Receive More Information

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

1. Subscribers sign up to receive daily text messages from Cope Notes.
2. Cope Notes interrupts negative thought patterns by injecting positivity at random points throughout the day.
3. Subscribers are encouraged to read, internalize, and interpret these messages based on their current feelings and situation in life.
4. 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

Learn More

Community Case Study

How Pasco County, Florida, used Cope Notes to impact the mental and emotional health of their community.

Learn More

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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.

Questions or suggestions for an outstanding presenter, contact coaching@icma.org.

The Life Membership category was established shortly after the association’s founding to recognize longtime members who dedicated their lives to local government service, as well as to the advancement of the profession.

Life Membership Eligibility and Criteria 

Must be a Full Member who at the time of retirement from full-time, active local government service, meets the following criteria:

Full Member (65 years or older) -15 years as an ICMA Full (Corporate) member, in-service, who during that time was eligible to serve on the board.

Full Member (under 65 years old) - 25 years as an ICMA Full (Corporate) member, in-service, who during that time was eligible to serve on the board.

Life Membership as written in Article VIII, Section 3c of the ICMA Constitution:

“Upon retiring from active service with a local government, any Full Member who has completed twenty-five years of membership and, for those same twenty-five years, has been eligible to be an officer of the Association shall become a Life Member. Also, any Full Member who has been eligible to be an officer of the Association for at least fifteen years and retires from active service with a local government at age sixty-five or older shall become a Life Member. In addition, any Full Member who has retired from active service with a local government and who, in the opinion of the Executive Board, has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the profession may be granted a Life Membership by vote of the Executive Board.”

Are you about to retire and think you might be eligible for Life Membership? Any member who believes they meet the requirements for Life Membership can contact membership@icma.org. 

Life Membership FAQ

What is the process to become a Life Member?

When a member announces his/her retirement and/or contacts ICMA, staff will check Life Membership eligibility. Once eligibility is confirmed, ICMA will update the member’s account to reflect Life Member category. Any member who believes he or she meets the requirements for Life Membership can contact membership@icma.org. 

How is individual Life Membership recognized?

ICMA wants to ensure Life Members are recognized for their commitment to ICMA and the profession. ICMA will recognize new Life Members in the weekly member newsletter, Leadership Matters. Each Life Member will be mailed a certificate and Life lapel pin. Upon request, ICMA will send the Life materials to a designee to be presented during a retirement ceremony. 

Are Life Members allowed to work and still retain Life Membership?

A Life Member may not work full-time for private sector or a university or as a consultant and retain Life status. In this scenario, the Life member should pay the appropriate 'not in service to a local government" rate of $200.  Working part-time for a local government or serving in an interim position is permitted as a Life Member.  However, if the Life Member returns to full-time local government service, his/her membership is changed back to Full Member for the duration of employment, paying appropriate salary-based dues.  Life Membership status is reinstated once the member leaves the full-time local government position. 

What are the benefits of being a Life Member?

Life Members retain all the benefits of Full Membership such as eligibility to vote and credentialed status (as applicable and if maintained).  As part of the benefit package, membership dues are waived, the registration rate to the annual conference is significantly discounted and website access for all content, including PM magazine, continues. Members who want to receive the print edition of PM have the option to pay a $25 annual fee to cover mailing costs.

Offered as a member benefit, ICMA members have access to the online community reserved only for current ICMA members. Nonmembers are invited to become an ICMA member to join the conversation.

Go to ICMA Connect

ICMA Connect community provides members with opportunities to:

• Find and connect with fellow ICMA members
• Network with colleagues around the world
• Participate in discussions vital to the management and advancement of our communities
• Gain access to member-specific digital resources
• Ask questions of your colleagues
• Share knowledge and resources

Access ICMA Connect from your computer

1. Login at connect.icma.org using your ICMA Member Account username and password.
2. Complete your profile. Your profile details will already appear from our member database, but we encourage you to complete your profile with as much information as possible. (Any changes made take 30 minutes to reflect on your profile)
3. Browse through the community. Keep up with the current conversations in the ICMA All-Members group. This your opportunity to join a conversation or start a new one.
4. Post a message. Got a question? Your colleagues have the answer! Go to Discussions, then Post a Message to send a message to your colleagues in your communities.
5. Share. Just like the “take a penny, leave a penny” model, if you find something useful on ICMA Connect, we hope you will share something of your own! You might even ask your peers for feedback on your work. To share a document, go to Resources, then Add a New Entry.

Access ICMA Connect from your phone

The complimentary ICMA Connect app, powered by MemberCentric, is the best way to connect and collaborate with peers, participate in community discussions, and access up-to-date content and news from ICMA, directly on your mobile device.

Download Instructions:

1. Go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
2. Search for MemberCentric and download the app
3. Open MemberCentric and tap ICMA
4. Login with your ICMA credentials

Questions? Contact the ICMA Connect Support Team at appsupport@icma.org.

CoachConnect

• Go to icma.org/coachconnect to sign up as a coach or learner! 

1-1 Coaching

• Resources for New Coaches

• NEW! Coaching Up, Down, and Across

• ABC's of One-to-One Coaching

• Being a Great Coach and a Winning Player

• Video: "Being a Great Coach and a Winning Player"

• Video: "Being a Great Coach: Catalyze the Greatness in Others"

• Video: Being a Winning Player: Take Charge of Your Talent"

• Making Effective Requests

• Talent Catalyst Conversation Outline

• Video: "Talent Catalyst Conversation: Watch Coaching in Action" 

• Video National Mentoring Month

Speedcoaching

• Guidelines for Enjoying Speed Coaching

State Associations

• Leveraging Your Participation in the Coaching Program: Ten Tips for State Associations

• Leveraging Your Participation in the Coaching Program: Ten Tips for Outreach Partners

FAQs

1. Who is Coaching for? What does it offer?

Everyone! Coaching offers value for people at any stage in their careers. As in sports, coaching helps even the best players do better. Why? Because everyone can benefit from sharing best practices and gaining perspectives from others who can help them see their situation and opportunities from a fresh perspective. That's why we organize the Coaching program webinars to serve as whole team learning experiences. It's also why the Speed Coaching and 1-1 Coaching models provide a structure for advice at multiple stages in a career. 

2. What resources are in the coaching program?

The ICMA Coaching Program delivers a suite of services to help you grow and enjoy your career:

• 6 live Webinars per year spotlighting best practices on key topics from local government professionals throughout the U.S. -- invite your whole team to participate. 
• Digital Agendas and Archives with video recordings and extensive presentation materials and examples from dozens of sessions available in a convenient online library--delivering you "professional development in a box"--when you want it and where you want it.
• One-on-One coaching provided through our online platform, ICMA CoachConnect
• Talent Development Resources to make greater use of your talent and have fun doing it.
• Speed Coaching session at the ICMA Annual Conference  and templates for use at local level -- expand your networks.
• Career Compass columns that address critical career issues.

3. Do I need to be a member of ICMA to participate in 1-1 Coaching?

No. Due to the generosity of the sponsors and partners for the ICMA Coaching Program and volunteer coaches, you do not need to be a member. Since ICMA membership has many benefits, we encourage you to consider joining.

4. What's the difference between a coach, a catalyst, and a mentor?

Some people use "coach" and "mentor" interchangeably. In the ICMA Coaching Program, we use the term "coach" to refer to someone who is helping others find the answers for themselves. This fits well with the interests of aspiring professionals to gain insights from others but blaze their own trails. A catalyst is a type of coach who accelerates action and precipitates results for others without becoming consumed in the process. A catalyst keeps the player in charge of his or her choices. In contrast, mentors often refer to people who teach others and guide them in how to do things. This works well when there is a specific body of knowledge that someone wishes to learn. So, a coach and a mentor are tools for different purposes. You'll probably want one or more of both and who they are will likely evolve over your career.

5. How often and over what period of time should a coach and coachees meet?

This is up to the coach and player. Some meet initially in-person or over the phone and then have occasional check-ins. Some make other arrangements. It's up to your mutual decision. You can decide to start and stop a coaching relationship as you see fit. 

6. How many coaches should I have?

Just as top sports players have multiple coaches (one overall, another for a particular skill, etc.), you may wish to have more than one coach. You might have one coach who helps you as you navigate your overall career. This might be an ongoing relationship of several months or more with occasional check-ins. You might have another coach (perhaps even one suggested by your career coach) for a targeted time to help you address a special need or insights about a particular subject or situation.

7. What is the "two-plus-one" system of coaching?

Two-plus-one is an easy way to remember the ideal set-up of a quick-to-access network of coaches. For project, program, or organizational advice, you want one coach within your department or team that can advise you on internal processes, goals, or give you other feedback related to your programs and goals. This can be, but does not need to be your direct supervisor. Then you want a coach in the same organization, but outside your team, to be an advisor that can also put things in context to the organization, the community, or how priorities connect to your question, project, or need for coaching. This can be a more senior staff person, but does not have to be. Someone with longer tenure in the organization can help as they should understand the levers and pulleys in the organization. Lastly, you want a coach outside your organization who can give you a fresh perspective, and can also be a confidant for you on issues you might not want to bring up internally before getting an outsider's perspective. And as in question 6, you can have as many coaches as you need!

Contact coaching@icma.org with feedback or additional questions!