Welcome to ICMA’s Directory of Local Government Academic Programs. To find a public administration program that has courses, concentrations, or research in the field of local government please explore the schools listed by clicking the button below. ICMA maintains this list to assist aspiring graduates find the local government program that’s right for them, and it is not an endorsement of any school or program. To have your program listed in this directory, please submit your request to https://bit.ly/3pxUWmi and make connections with our schools today by clicking on their logo.

View the Directory

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 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. 

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.

Description

The John Garvey Scholarship Fund allows young professionals to participate in global knowledge exchange through attendance at a local government management event in a country other than their home country. The ICMA Global Engagement Committee offers two scholarships of up to $3,500 from the John Garvey Fund to applicants who meet the requirements. One scholarship is designated for a U.S. citizen and the other for a non-U.S. citizen. If no applications are received from one or the other of these categories of potential applicants, two scholarships may be awarded within the same category.

Requirements

• Applicant must be an active member of ICMA and age 40 or under at the time of application. Learn more about becoming a member of ICMA.
• Applicant cannot be a member of the ICMA Global Engagement Committee at the time of application.
• The scholarship is limited to direct expenses associated with attendance at an international conference or event.
• The applicant, if selected, is responsible for any expenses above the $3,500 amount.
• These funds may not be used to repay student loans or to fund solely cultural experiences.
• Endorsement letters from the applicant’s employer must be submitted as part of the package explaining what assistance the local government will provide to the applicant. The employer should describe what it hopes to receive from the applicant participating in the process.

Individuals with questions can contact Sophie Weyn, assistant program manager, global engagement, at sweyn@icma.org. 

Eligible International Local Government Events

ICMA maintains contact with local government organizations around the world. If you are interested in attending the conference of one of these organizations, contact Sophie Weyn at sweyn@icma.org for more information.

Many organizations do not announce their conferences until 1-2 months prior to the conference date. While we make every effort to list the events on the ICMA events calendar and on this page, we do not know every upcoming event. If there is another local government-related event you would like to attend, list this event in your application. If you need help selecting an event, contact ICMA for assistance.

Selection Process

Applicants will be evaluated by a selection committee led by the vice chair of the ICMA Global Engagement Committee.

About the John Garvey Scholarship Fund

The John Garvey Fund was established in 1995 following the recommendation of the ICMA Global Engagement Committee (then called the International Committee) to create a scholarship to assist ICMA members in gaining an international management perspective. The scholarship was named for John Garvey, who served as coordinator of the International Management Exchange Program for many years. A stated desire of the committee is to increase the number of women, minorities, and young professionals participating in international activities.

Catch up on all the advice from ICMA's Career Compass, in case you missed one or want to share these links with a colleague. 

To get this column by email, sign-up for the Coaching Program email list. Simply click “Create Account” in the upper right hand corner of this page and follow the steps. Once you are signed-in, manage your Communication Preferences in your profile. Scroll down to “Subscriptions” and click the box next to ICMA Coaching. You will now receive ICMA Coaching Emails.

Also, check out the Career Compass Anthology: Volume I and Career Compass Anthology: Volume II - compilations of the first 50 columns in two formatted PDFs. Volume III-IV are being formatted.

Career Compass No. 114: What I Wish I Knew as a Younger Leader

Career Compass No. 113: Promote Stability Amid All the Change

Career Compass No. 112: Can You Show Your True Self at Work?

Career Compass No. 111: Are You a Generous Leader?

Career Compass No. 110: Accelerate Through Subtraction 

Career Compass No. 109: Succession Planning—Nine Classic Mistakes to Avoid

Career Compass No. 108: Leadership Starts with Self-awareness

Career Compass No. 107: The Business Case for Promoting Workplace Belonging

Career Compass No. 106: Supporting a Colleague in Distress

Career Compass No. 105: How Do You Show Up as a Leader?

Career Compass No. 104: Workforce Trends You Can’t Ignore

Career Compass No. 103: Avoid Seeking Happiness at Work

Career Compass No. 102: Responding to Public Criticism

Career Compass No. 101: Now Is the Time to Reinvest in the Front Line

Career Compass No. 100: Leadership Lessons from 99 Career Compass Columns

Career Compass No. 99: Harness the Hidden Power of Rituals

Career Compass No. 98: Combating Change Exhaustion

Career Compass No. 97: Seven Ways to Boost Your Leadership Capabilities

Career Compass No. 96: Why We Need Great Mid-managers More than Ever

Career Compass No. 95: Use Return-to-Office as Your Opportunity to Reset Culture

Career Compass No. 94: 10 Principles for Leading in Turbulence

Career Compass No. 93: Does Your Executive Group Have a First-Team Mindset?

Career Compass No. 92: Leveraging Six  Sources of Influence

Career Compass No. 91: Post-Covid, What is your Leadership Narrative?

Career Compass No. 90: Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis

Career Compass No. 89: Overcoming the Arrogance of Expertise

Career Compass No. 88: Leaders Are Dealers in Hope

Career Compass No. 87: Do Something!

Career Compass No. 86: Empathy is a Superpower

Career Compass No. 85: To Thrive in Post-Pandemic, Enhance Employee Experience

Career Compass No. 84: Got Grit?

Career Compass No. 83: How Do I Have Energizing Performance Conversations with Direct Reports?

Career Compass No. 82: Avoid Layoffs by Using a Menu of Strategies

Career Compass No. 81: We Need Adaptive Leaders Now

Career Compass No. 80: To Retain Your Talent, Use Stay Interviews

Career Compass No. 79: Leading by Connecting

Career Compass No. 78: Info Interviews - A Tool to Help You Advance

Career Compass No. 77: Ten Practices to Build a Mini-Culture of Learning

Career Compass No. 76: Humble Leaders Get Results

Career Compass No. 75: Patience Is a Leadership Virtue

Career Compass No. 74: How Do I Get Everyone's Commitment?

Career Compass No. 73: How Do I Get and Benefit from a Stretch Assignment?

Career Compass No. 72: How Do We Generate Creative Ideas?

Career Compass No. 71: Why Won’t They Collaborate with Us?

Career Compass No. 70: How to Handle a Difficult Conversation with a Direct Report

Career Compass No. 69: Psychological Safety: The One Key Determinant of Team Effectiveness

Career Compass No. 68: My My 1:1 Meetings Are a Waste of Time

Career Compass No. 67: Effective Leaders Start with Compassion

Career Compass No. 66: Lighten Up!

Career Compass No. 65: FIO—The Key Competency for 21st Century Leaders

Career Compass No. 64: Ten Ideas to Become a Talent Magnet

Career Compass No. 63: Legacy: Don't Live It, Leave It

Career Compass No. 62: "How Do I Get A Better Title?"

Career Compass No. 61: Leadership Is the Art of Conversation

Career Compass No. 60: I Don't Like My Mid-Manager Job!

Career Compass No. 59: Perform the Job Before You Get It

Career Compass No. 58: Overcoming Deep-Seated Fears

Career Compass No. 57: Leading By Living Your Values

Career Compass No. 56: The Paradoxes of Leadership

Career Compass No. 55: I'm Not Ready! 

Career Compass No. 54: How Do I Position Myself for Advancement?

Career Compass No. 53: How Do I Hold People Accountable?

Career Compass No. 52: Recasting My Rep

Career Compass No. 51: Building a World Class Culture

Career Compass No. 50: Storytelling--A Powerful Way to Lead and Communicate

Career Compass No. 49: Building High-Performance Teams—What’s the Magic?

Career Compass No. 48: How Do I Benefit from a Coach?

Career Compass No. 47: Leadership Myths Debunked 

Career Compass No. 46: Leading By Letting Go

Career Compass No. 45: City Managers Need Coaches Too

Career Compass No. 44: Rookie Mistakes of a First-Time Department Head

Career Compass No. 43: My Team is Overwhelmed (and so am I)!

Career Compass No. 42: Trust Me!

Career Compass No. 41: The Post-Heroic Leader

Career Compass No. 40: “Why Can't We Just Get Along?"

Career Compass No. 39: The Courage to Do the Right Thing

Career Compass No. 38: Your Staff Meetings Don't Have To Be Dreary

Career Compass No. 37: Engaging Employees for Success

Career Compass No. 36: Creating a Leadership Presence

Career Compass No. 35: Leadership Lessons from My Teenage Daughter

Career Compass No. 34: Making Presentations Like a Pro

Career Compass No. 33: Making the Move Up and Out—What’s the Fit?

Career Compass No. 32: The Power of Vulnerability 

Career Compass No. 31: Political Savviness

Career Compass No. 30: Building a Powerful Network

Career Compass No. 29: Forget Work-Life Balance...Re-Energize at Work and at Home!

Career Compass No. 28: My Team Member Is a Slacker!

Career Compass No. 27: Creating a Safe Environment for a Courageous Conversation

Career Compass No. 26: The Art of the Interview

Career Compass No. 25: Winning Office Politics, the Right Way

Career Compass No. 24: Asking Powerful Questions

Career Compass No. 23: Building Your Personal Brand

Career Compass No. 22: Overcoming Your Blind Spots

Career Compass No. 21: My Micromanaging Boss Is Driving Me Crazy!

Career Compass No. 20: They've Oversized My Job!

Career Compass No. 19: Why Should Anyone Follow Me?

Career Compass No. 18: Taking Smart Risks

Career Compass No. 17: The Subtle Art of Promoting Your Value

Career Compass No. 16: Should I Consider a Lateral Move?

Career Compass No. 15: Dealing with Angry Crowds

Career Compass No. 14: Selling Your Ideas

Career Compass No. 13: Developing a Finance IQ

Career Compass No. 12: Communicating with Your Boss

Career Compass No. 11: Frank’s Rules for Resume Writing

Career Compass No. 10: Personal Learning—The Key to Adapting and Advancing

Career Compass No. 9: Bouncing Back From Defeat

Career Compass No. 8: Leading From the Middle

Career Compass No. 7: How Do I Create a "Dream Team" of Advisors?

Career Compass No. 6: The Multi-generational Workplace

Career Compass No. 5: Developing Leadership Skills When You Have No Formal Authority

Career Compass No. 4: Spot That Opening, and Take It!

Career Compass No. 3: Getting Ready for the Next Opportunity

Career Compass No. 2: Defining Your Value In Uncertain Times

Career Compass No. 1: What Skills Are Most Important for a Manager (And How Do I Develop Them)?

Sponsored by the ICMA Coaching Program, ICMA Career Compass is a column from ICMA focused on career issues for local government professional staff. Dr. Frank Benest is ICMA's Liaison for Next Generation Initiatives and resides in Palo Alto, California. If you have a career question you would like addressed in a future Career Compass, e-mail careers@icma.org or contact Frank directly at frank@frankbenest.com. Read past columns at icma.org/careercompass.

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!