The mission of ICMA’s Life, Well Run campaign is to raise awareness of and appreciation for the value professional local government managers bring to building effective, efficient, ethical local governments and communities we’re proud to call home. 

One of the campaign’s target audiences is students. The campaign has developed an array of brochures specifically for high school and college teachers and students. 

We’ve also developed a Prezi, Local Government 101, which succinctly explains local government and the symbiotic roles of elected officials and professional local government managers. It’s accompanied by A Teacher’s Companion to help teachers explain local government.

Video contest lets students tell our story

To support the campaign, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ICMA student chapter issued a video competition challenge to other student chapters: Portray a day in the life of local government in a two-minute video that spotlights a person, process, or government. The resulting videos give us a view into how the next generation of managers sees the profession and the work we do.

A panel of judges scored the entries and chose the winner, which will be announced at ICMA’s 100th Anniversary Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 14–17. 

Now you be the judge

All the videos can be seen here. Watch them and “like” your favorite by August 11, 2014.

How are you reaching out to the next generation of managers?

Do you have a story about how you have engaged students in learning about the local government management profession? Let us know! E-mail your story to lifewellrun@icma.org, so we can add your activity to the Life, Well Run Campaign Activities page.

And don’t forget to send us stories of successful projects you’ve initiated or managed in your community – we’ll add them to the Life, Well Run map!

For more information about how you can get involved in Life, Well Run, contact Ellen Foreman at 202-962-3511 or eforeman@icma.org.