Does your personal professional development plan include an international component? If it does, you may be eligible for fellowship assistance.

The Tranter-Leong Fund offers two fellowships up to $5,000 each to encourage ICMA members to expand their international horizons while advancing ICMA’s commitment to “think globally, act globally.” One fellowship is available for applicants who seek an experience in Asia, and the other is for applicants who seek an experience elsewhere, other than in the United States or Canada.

Funds must be used for an experience outside the applicant’s home country. Examples may include attendance at a conference or other event, teaching at an educational institution, establishing a relationship with an ICMA international affiliate organization, job shadowing in a host community, or similar activities.

Applicants must have been active members of ICMA for at least one year, demonstrate financial need, have the support of their employer, and commit to sharing the experience through communication channels afterward.

The Tranter-Leong Fund was established at ICMA in 2017 through a generous donation from ICMA Life Member Revan A. F. Tranter, past ICMA president and first chair of the International Committee, and Eugene Y. Leong. Each of these men served as executive director for the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) in California. Upon retirement from ABAG, they started a fund to support interns at ABAG, and the fund later evolved to the Tranter-Leong Fund at ICMA. Under ICMA’s stewardship, the two donors and the leadership of the International Committee will use the funds to advance ICMA’s commitment to international professional development.

Learn more and complete an application here. If you have questions, contact Berna Oztekin-Gunaydin (boztekin@icma.org) or Shraddha Kharel-Pandey (skharelpandey@icma.org) at ICMA.