Projects

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Under an agreement with the CEPT Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), ICMA worked to enhance the capacity of local government managers, supervisors, and administrators, as well as students, to better manage cities in India. The foundation takes its name from CEPT University, based in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat state. Led by a resident technical advisor, ICMA conducted a stakeholder analysis and an assessment of training needs, developed a 12-module training curriculum and delivered trainings to students and current practitioners working in Indian local governments. Modules focused on:

Change Management
Citizen Engagement
Complaint Management
Conflict Management.
Priority Setting
Empowering and motivating employees
Leadership
Networking
Performance Management
Project Management
Use of Social Media
Supervision

The City Health Dashboard provides communities and city leaders with an array of regularly updated data specific to neighborhood and/or city boundaries – such as life expectancy, obesity, and children in poverty – to improve the health and well-being of everyone in the community.

Thanks to a grant provided by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 2017, ICMA, as a subcontractor to New York University Grossman School of Medicine (NYUSOM), has helped connect local governments with the City Health Dashboard, a growing online database with over 40 measures of health and drivers of health in cities in the United States with 50,000 or more residents.

Designed to provide communities and their leaders with a clearer picture of the challenges they face, the City Health Dashboard helps local governments and community organizations target public health investments in high-need neighborhoods and expand support for budget allocations and evidence-based community health improvement efforts. Recently, City Health Dashboard has developed an index to help communities identify and address COVID-19 risk factors, such as mapped census tracks indicating a 1-10 risk level for the spread of the virus, and prioritizing testing for specific neighborhoods.

ICMA’s role is to provide the connection between local government and public health with subject matter expertise as well as promotion of the Dashboard to local government professionals and scholars through the facilitation of webinars and promotion at the ICMA Annual Conference.

By presenting data needed to understand population health status and its actionable determinants at the city level and allowing for ready cross-city comparisons, the project aims to support city leaders and community stakeholders in driving improvements in urban health and well-being.

Vista of the City of Ataco, Ahuachapán

aerial view of city with mountain in background

ICMA has permission from Nestor Zapata

ICMA, as a subcontractor to The Palladium Group, provided technical assistance to municipalities in El Salvador as part of a five-year project with the primary objective of increasing the competitiveness of key economic sectors. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the project built on lessons learned from earlier development initiatives. It complemented other USAID/El Salvador activities to enable Salvadoran businesses to become more competitive in global markets while ensuring participation of men and women, including those with disabilities and those from the LGBTI community.

The project supported efforts to strengthen the capacity of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to compete in domestic and export markets, and improve the national and subnational business environment to encourage private-sector investment, innovation, and business expansion to foster economic growth and job creation. Specific ICMA interventions included:

Provided technical assistance to improve the business enabling environment at the subnational level, helping municipal competitive committees and other relevant municipal-level entities implement and/or update their plans. One factor affecting economic opportunities, employment, and growth is a secure and safe municipal environment. For that reason, ICMA worked with municipalities on violence prevention and other public safety initiatives that were linked to new investment or enable businesses to operate and grow more efficiently.
Provided training and technical assistance on key topics such as attracting investment and creating public-private partnerships, business improvement districts, and regulations for economic development.
Facilitated CityLinks™ exchange between U.S. and Salvadoran cities to support the creation of new one-stop-windows and simplified business procedures; strengthen or create municipal units for enterprise development (known as EMPREs) to link medium and small enterprises with business development service providers and establish business improvement districts (BIDs).

Key Project Information

Funder

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and International Executive Service Corps (IESC)

Period of Performance

October 16, 2016 - May 1, 2020

Location

Tanzania

ICMA's Role

ICMA embedded over 25 expert volunteers and consultants for the Feed the Future Tanzania Enabling Growth Through Investment and Enterprise (ENGINE) program. Volunteers built the capacity of the private sector to effectively dialogue with the government to set the policy agenda and improve the capacity of the public sector to implement policies which promoted an enabling business environment.

Project Details

ICMA is an implementing partner in the Enabling Growth Through Investment and Enterprise (ENGINE) Program in Tanzania, a project designed to increase private-sector investment leading to inclusive, broad-based economic growth in the agricultural regions of Mbeya, Morogoro, and Iringa, as well as in Zanzibar.

ENGINE is a four-year Feed the Future activity funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and awarded through the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA), with the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) taking the lead.

Components of the Project

The project has three component objectives:

Implementing Policies for Growth: Build the capacity of the private sector to work effectively with the government to set the policy agenda and improve the capacity of the public sector to implement policies that promote an environment that enables business. An indicator of success is a 20 percent increase in formally registered businesses in targeted local government authorities (LGAs).
Equipping for Growth: Foster the growth and capacity of a sustainable market for business development services in Tanzania, with the result that at least 24 suppliers of these services are sustainable by the end of the project.
Financing for Growth: Broaden access to financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, specifically for women and youth entrepreneurs, to facilitate increased investment and growth, with the result that more than $7 million of Development Credit Authority loans are extended to women- and youth-owned businesses.

ICMA’s Role

ICMA’s role is to advance the first objective, implementing policies for growth, by guiding and managing a local governance analyst and fielding local, regional, and international volunteers. ICMA’s specific tasks are to:

Recruit and Manage Volunteers. ICMA’s approach is to motivate a cadre of executive-level volunteers with specific and relevant experience and skill sets in national and local policy development. The local government advisor and volunteers work with a local consulting firm to ensure sustainability of results.
Employ Learning-by-Doing Capacity Strengthening. Volunteers in each of the regional capitals support local efforts with mentoring and coaching, training, and direct technical assistance to build local capacity. Some possible outcomes include streamlined business registration and licensing, improved “own-source” revenue from the LGAs, services on quality standards, market access and information, and other business support services.
Improve Policy Analysis, Design, Advocacy, Adoption, and Monitoring. ICMA is deploying experts in economic governance and ICMA volunteers from the political and administrative leadership of U.S. cities for short- and medium-term assignments to work with the LGAs, the business council working group, and private-sector and civil society organizations to better articulate evidence-based messaging and adopt effective advocacy methods.

For more information, see About Global Programs on our website, or contact global@icma.org.

Throughout much of the U.S., the overall lack of affordable housing combined with ongoing problems in addressing older, obsolete, and rundown housing stock have created a housing crisis that is having an impact on the economic health of communities and on the quality of life for community residents and their families. As local governments struggle with how best to address these interlinked issues, it has become clear that traditional approaches to neighborhood and community planning are not producing the desired results for residents.

To address this, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched the Choice Neighborhoods Program. This comprehensive approach to neighborhood planning takes into account the economic and social needs of residents in public and assisted housing beyond those of their physical environment. With HUD funding, ICMA coordinated a study of three smaller cities (Salisbury, North Carolina; Suffolk, Virginia; and Norfolk, Virginia) that received funding from the Choice Neighborhoods Program.

Based on the study, ICMA prepared a report, Evaluating the Role of Local Government and Project Stakeholder Engagement in Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Planning and Implementation.

In May 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the selection of a consortium that includes ICMA, Enterprise Community Partners, Public Financial Management (PFM), HR&A Advisors, Inc., and NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service to run and operate the Strong Cities, Strong Communities National Resource Network (the Network).

The goal of the Network, which launched in May 2014, is to support cities across the U.S. that are challenged by a range of mounting issues such as growing poverty, high unemployment, poor performing schools, aging infrastructure, and vacant and blighted properties. The Network partners with cities that are rounding the corner from major economic challenges to help them identify and implement practical solutions to facilitate their paths to economic recovery and growth. The Network provides three core services:

Support for Implementing Solutions: The Network deploys teams of private and public sector experts to work with cities to implement locally identified projects and initiatives to deliver economic benefits in the near term. Network teams also work to build local capacity and leadership for the future.
Access to Peer Networks and New Ideas: The Network convenes and connects local leaders to their peers and other experts solving similar problems across the country. Through structured peer networks and innovative uses of technology, the Network empowers creative, collaborative problem solving targeting the toughest economic challenges facing America’s cities. The Network also generates real time analysis and policy recommendations that can inform local, state, and federal action.
On-Line, On-Demand Access to Expertise: The Network’s website provides an unprecedented online library of tools and resources tailored for the leaders of these economically challenged communities, as well as the first-ever compilation of publicly and privately funded technical assistance opportunities. It also hosts the country’s first “311” resource for public agency staff working on fiscal, economic, and community development issues in cities across the country.

Learn more at www.nationalresourcenetwork.org; follow the project on Twitter at @NatlResourceNet.

Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Contact: Jessica Johnston, jjohnston@icma.org

With funding from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), ICMA conducted a four-part, two-way reciprocal environmental and sustainability fellowship exchange that promoted learning and knowledge exchange among key local government practitioners from the U.S., Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The exchange focused on the theme of accountable governance.

Fellows spent time in 23 different host communities and organizations across the United States: City of Ontario, OR; City of Austin, TX; City of Denver, CO; City of Goddard, KS; City of Tukwila, WA; Rare.org, DC; City of Kansas City, KS; Guilford County, NC; Harris County, TX; Office of Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty in New Britain, CT; Downtown DC Business Improvement District; City of Tallahassee, FL; City of Frankfort, KY; Coconino County, AZ; City of Northampton, MA; Jackson County, MI; City of Bozeman, MT; City of Salisbury, NC; CASA for Douglas County, NE; City of Hooksett, NH; City of Upper Arlington, OH; City of Tulsa, OK; City of Albany, OR

The exchange visits by the foreign participants occurred between April 2017 and November 2017, and included participation in short-term fellowships, job shadowing, meetings with government officials, and visits to nonprofits and community groups working to engage citizens. Participants captured their experiences and shared photos and videos on ICMA’s YSEALI Fellows WordPress blogsite.

In return, 12 participants from the United States participated in a reciprocal experience with their international participant counterparts The U.S. participants traveled from: Ontario, OR; Dubuque, IA; Denver, CO; Tukwila, WA; Coconino County, AZ; Goddard, KS; Upper Arlington, OH; Bozeman, MT; Albany, OR; Frankfort, KY; and Guilford County, NC.