The Leadership ICMA Class of 2016 met for the first time in December 2014 at ICMA in Washington, D.C. Since then, the Class has worked together to leverage their collective wisdom and knowledge and been given out-of-the-box thinking with direct application to the challenges and opportunities they may face in a leadership role. 

As part of the program, the Class is required to complete a capstone project. It requires participants to demonstrate their competence in the concepts presented throughout the Leadership ICMA program. Working in teams, participants work on a local government consulting project solicited through a formal RFP process with a local government client. Through a series of facilitated exercises, participants are individually and collectively evaluated to determine whether they have met the criteria for graduation.

Here is a first look at the Class of 2016 capstone projects.

Imagine Andover: A Sense of Place and Destination

The Andover Project Team scope of work was to provide the Town of Andover, MA with fresh insights and candid advice to evaluate the Downtown area and develop a comprehensive playbook of best practice recommendations focusing on a sense of place and destination. What makes a great destination downtown? A sense of place for who? What assets does Andover have to leverage? What defines and distinguishes Downtown Andover? The Andover Team set out to answer these questions and more.

Open Fort Collins: A framework for advancing transparency and solutions to complex problems

The City of Fort Collins is exploring the creation of an open data platform to utilize data to solve complex problems. Establishing such a platform will require knowledge about resourcing, changes in business process, governance, potential data sources, enticing citizen use, and preparing for potential change management issues within the organization.

A Community of Choice, The City You Never Want To Leave

The City of Fort Lauderdale has identified the need to establish a policy, or multiple policies, that will create a more adaptable work environment for its employees. This is based off of Fort Lauderdale’s stated need to be an “employer of choice” in the region as well to accommodate the organization’s rapid personnel growth within the constraints of the current office space.

Time to Act: Integrated Water Management

Iowa’s waterways are one of the largest contributors of polluted water into the Mississippi River that has, in part, led to the 7,700 square mile Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico.  The State of Iowa faces EPA regulations to reduce the amount of nitrates and phosphorus, referred to as nutrients, entering waterways as well as the Governor’s goal to reduce nutrients flowing into the Mississippi River by 40 percent before 2030.  The City of Storm Lake is one of two cities that will serve as a pilot for implementing alternative solutions.  The Leadership ICMA Project Team, utilizing data from the Iowa League of Cities’ Technical Advisory Committee, is completing a cost benefit analysis to determine which alternatives will best balance the nutrient reduction goals with the limited resources of Iowa cities.

Want to participate in the Leadership ICMA Program? Cultivate key competencies needed for successful leadership at all levels of local government management by applying before the October 28 deadline!

[Learn more and apply here]