March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate contributions women have made to history, culture, and society. In accordance with this observance, ICMA highlights Courtney W. Christensen, city administrator, Mission Hills, Kansas, and 2019 recipient of the Career Development in Memory of L. P. Cookingham Award. 

Christensen’s commitment to developing new talent in local government is unmatched, as evidenced by her continued passion and focus on attracting and developing those new to the profession. When asked about her mentoring role, Christensen remarked, “Mentoring young people, whether male or female, has been the greater privilege for me than benefit to them. They have helped me to stay current with societal trends and they helped me to understand the environment that we must develop to attract young people to our community to live, work, and play. They have encouraged me to learn new things and to try new ways of doing things. Mentoring is totally selfish on my part. It makes my life so much more interesting.”

Christensen believes her professional success is due in part to the support she’s received from other women throughout her career, “In the mid 1990s when I was promoted into the city manager’s office, I attended the Missouri City Managers’ Association meeting where I found there were no women managers in the state but there were four of us in assistant roles.  We formed a tight group who supported each other and found a place where we could talk through the sexual harassment, the disrespect, and the glass ceiling that we struggled with through the years.”

Christensen has spent the last 32 years working for just two cities—Kansas City, Missouri, and Mission Hills, Kansas—with a wide range of responsibilities in budget and finance, resource management, and emergency services coordination. In 2000, she became city administrator in Mission Hills, where one of the hallmarks of her tenure has been a focus on resident satisfaction and community engagement.

Read more about Courtney Christensen’s inspirational journey and check out other award winners. 

Do you have a peer, mentor, or colleague that should be celebrated? Take a moment to nominate them for an ICMA Local Government Excellence Award.  Professional awards are presented for career excellence, development of new talent, excellence in leadership as an assistant (regardless of title), early career leadership, and academic contributions. 

Stellar programs can also be nominated. Awards are presented in five categories: community diversity and inclusion, community health and safety, community partnerships, community sustainability, and strategic leadership and governance.

Submit nominations online. Contact Joyce Lee at jlee@icma.org or 202/962-3625 with questions. Recipients will be honored during the ICMA Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Deadline for nominations has been extended through March 13, 2020.