ICMA's digital event, UNITE, brings together local government leader's from across the globe to learn from each other and address the new realities of our communities today. The decision to go digital was the impact of COVID-19 that has swept across the globe since March. As such, COVID-19 and the impact it has had on our communities and local government leaders who are working tirelessly to protect, support, and lead their communities through this crisis will certainly be one of the key topics discussed during the event. 

UNITE kicked off Monday, September 21 with pre-conference opportunities including the League of Women in Government Symposium with featured speaker Glennon Doyle as well as several other live sessions focused on equity in criminal justice, redefining leadership when battling two pandemics, gathering opinions of hard-to-reach residents, to name a few.

Today, September 22, the day kicks off with the International Academy Series. Every year at ICMA's annual conference, the Global Programs and Business Development teams put together an International Academy to help members better understand how they can support ICMA's programs by using their skills to address challenges faced by local governments around the world. This year, the traditional 1 1/2-day Academy has been turned into four bite-sized sessions. In addition to this, participants of UNITE can partake in Tuesday sessions catered toward first-time administrators, encore professionals, veterans, and young professionals.

The main course of the event begins tomorrow, September 23 and runs through Saturday, September 26. Programming throughout the rest of the week will focus on the most pressing local government topics including COVID-19, racial equity and social justice, financial recovery, policing, and more. For a sneak peek of the keynote speakers, trailblazers, and featured speakers; Wednesday and Thursday evening events; health and happiness opportunities; and more; watch the video below. Still not registered for the world's largest gathering of local government professionals? There's still time, register here!