Contact: Rob Carty, Director, ICMA Career Services, rcarty@icma.org; 202-962-3560

Washington, D.C.—Emerging local government leaders and mid-career professionals throughout the world who want to advance their careers with the help of their more senior counterparts can now take part in a new ICMA Coaching Program.

Launched by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in conjunction with January’s National Mentoring Month, this complimentary new coaching service will help cities, counties, and towns fill the pipeline for top administrative talent and respond to the “tsunami of retirements” taking place within the local government workforce. 

“We are excited to expand this coaching program—which began in California through Cal-ICMA—to offer these resources to a wide range of individuals interested in careers in local government management,” said ICMA Executive Director Robert J. O’Neill, Jr. “The ICMA Coaching Program supports our mission to create excellence in local government by developing and fostering professional management at all career stages.”

"The retirement wave of baby boomer managers leaving local government service has created a talent crisis,” according to ICMA Senior Advisor and Next Generation Initiatives Consultant Dr. Frank Benest. “The ICMA Coaching Program aims to help emerging leaders accelerate their development and fill talent gaps at all levels."

The program links participants to a variety of invaluable resources:

• Webinars—The ICMA Coaching Program offers participants access to six engaging and relevant webinars each year. The livestreamed programs feature interactive polling and Q&A sessions and typically consist of insightful presentations from three leaders in the field. High-quality digital recordings and PDF agendas are available after each webinar has aired.
• 1-to-1 Coaching—Professionals at all levels seeking personalized mentoring with experienced executives can find a coach using either the “Coaches Gallery” or the forthcoming “Coach Connect” service. Both resources will match senior managers with up-and-coming local government management talent and those new to the profession.
• Content Resources—A repository of advice, inspiration, guidance, and new thinking on the important issues local government management professionals face every day. Through his monthly Career Compass column, for example, Dr. Benest provides informative and engaging leadership and career guidance. And ICMA’s Career Stories interview series offers personal career insights and tips from organizational leaders and rising stars.
• Speed Coaching—Based on the speed dating model, the ICMA Coaching Program will continue to facilitate this always popular and informative session at the ICMA Annual Conference.

To learn more about the ICMA Coaching Program, visit icma.org/coaching.  Or contact Don Maruska, director, ICMA Coaching Program, at icmacoaching@donmaruska.com; or Rob Carty, director, ICMA Career Services, at rcarty@icma.org. 

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide. The organization’s mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional management to build sustainable communities that improve people’s lives.

About the ICMA Coaching Program
The ICMA Coaching Program builds on the success of the Cal-ICMA Coaching Program and its state-based program partners, who made the experience and knowledge of senior-level managers available to help develop the careers of emerging local government leaders. With financial support from ICMA, by 2015, the Cal-ICMA Coaching Program had partnered with 15 state associations to provide complimentary coaching webinars and programs to more than 5,700 local government attendees. Thanks to the generous support of ICMA Platinum Sponsor ICMA-RC and partnerships with 21 state associations of professional managers, ICMA is able to expand the program nationwide to serve all states. The 21 state partners include: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.