While so much of the news this past year could be characterized by conflict and polarization, what strikes me most about the 2024 ICMA award recipients seen in the September issue of PM Magazine is how these individuals and organizations have been able to bring people together.

Every one of our Distinguished Service Award recipients has demonstrated the leadership skills required to bring success to their communities, as well as to shine the light on the importance of professional local government management. Ron Carlee, Lee Feldman, and Tony Gardner have shown, through their examples, the power of collaboration in confronting challenges and transforming communities in turbulent times.

Our Mark Keane Award for Career Excellence recipient Gilbert Davidson has demonstrated his ability to bring diverse stakeholders together on both the local and state government levels. Wally Bobkiewicz, the L. P. Cookingham Award for Career Development recipient, has spent his career mentoring others and recently brought together 50 practitioners under the age of 40 to envision local government excellence in the next decade.

The program awards highlight the focus on community and staff engagement in driving innovative, even groundbreaking, new programs and practices. Rather than previewing all the award winners, I’ll let you read and admire for yourself the inspirational stories submitted to the awards committee under the leadership of Evaluation Committee Chair Jim Proce and Vice Chair Melissa Rollins.

There is a new award this year that I wanted to especially emphasize—the Advocacy for the Profession Award in Honor of Martha Perego. Many of us in the profession and in this organization have benefitted from the advice and advocacy of ICMA’s former Director of Membership and Ethics Martha Perego. As this is the year that marks the centennial celebration of the ICMA Code of Ethics, it’s especially meaningful to also celebrate our members who have the courage and integrity to live the values resident in the code. One individual, Dawn Peters, was singled out for her tireless work in leading our state affiliates in Illinois and Wisconsin. She is very much on the front lines, leading with empathy and experience.

Given that this is the first year of the award and also the 100-year anniversary of the Code, I’d also like to salute the thousands of ICMA members who every day navigate a career adhering to the Code’s tenets and guidelines and supporting the efficacy of the council-manager form of government. Just take a look at the Celebration of Service Awards—the number of managers who continue to serve their communities after 30 or more years is amazing.

MARC A. OTT is CEO/Executive Director of ICMA, Washington, D.C.