In a dynamic cross-continental exchange, Nina Vetter, city manager of Newport, Oregon, USA, and recipient of ICMA’s Tranter Leong Fellowship Award, recently completed her fellowship with the Urban Management Centre (UMC) in Ahmedabad, India. Over the course of 10 days, she collaborated with local government professionals and stakeholders in Ahmedabad, immersing herself in India’s evolving municipal landscape.

What took place was a two-way learning experience that offered new perspectives on governance, innovation, and professional city management, one that Vetter described as “a terrific experience of learning and relationship building.”

A Shared Language

From infrastructure to public health, cities around the world face similar challenges, but how they respond varies by both culture and context. For Vetter, the fellowship provided rare insight into these differences and commonalities. U.S. and Indian cities face parallel hurdles with resource constraints and evolving resident expectations that require a combination of creativity and resilience to address. Vetter emphasized that “you really learn best when you can go and see firsthand how other people do things. For me, it was really helpful to learn the different approach that the Urban Management Centre takes and learn the approaches that their staff takes.”

UMC deputy director Meghna Malhotra echoed this sentiment, explaining that “even though we come from different systems, city managers all speak the same language. The challenges we face are exactly the same, even though the scale might be different, and that’s why we can come together to find better solutions.”

Innovation in Practice

The fellowship was rich with hands-on engagements across multiple fields. From public health bylaws to model sanitation contracts aimed at improving sanitation worker safety, this exchange offered a host of practical, transferable lessons.

Vetter highlighted the many projects and initiatives UMC is involved in. “We talked about some really interesting work, particularly in regard to women in sanitation. To encourage more women in the sanitation space, UMC developed a board game to try to better educate and engage women in building their own businesses. What a cool, creative way of trying to approach a problem!” This spirit of creative thinking and adaptability stood out to her. “UMC is not just doing what they did for the last 15 years for every single project. They’re thinking about how they can do things better and have it be more impactful than the last time it was done.”

Fresh Perspectives on Local Government Management

For UMC, Vetter’s presence offered a valuable window into professional local government management as practiced in the United States. “Having Nina with us brought a very refreshing and grounded perspective,” said Malhotra. “Nina sharing her experience of running cities where she has served as city manager helped us bridge the gap between policy design and operational delivery.”

UMC vice president Anurag Anthony added that the staff benefited immensely from Vetter’s leadership style. “Nina shared her lessons with our staff by delivering a talk on decoding how cities work in the United States, and this was not just a presentation, but a deep-dive conversation.”

Malhotra echoed the sentiment, especially around a core area of focus: sanitation worker safety. “This is an area where Nina really helped us think through with a lot of nuance and really focus on where we can go wrong and what loopholes should be considered. She really helped us shape these model contracts, and very soon, they will be issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs throughout the country.”

Anthony also credited Nina with helping elevate internal thinking around various leadership challenges. “Her perspective encouraged our staff to think about capacity building in a much more structured way, and that will have a long-term effect on how we approach different challenges.”

Stepping Outside of the Box

Vetter emphasized the importance of stepping outside the boundaries of one’s own community to gain perspective. “Those of us who work for a city are really geographically centered in one place, but it’s important to sometimes remove yourself from that, as it gives you a different perspective and allows you to grow and develop.” Beyond technical knowledge, cultural exchange was a fundamental part of the experience, one that Vetter embraced wholeheartedly. “It was refreshing to really immerse myself in another culture and professionally, it’s really helpful to see how other local governments work.”

While Vetter offered UMC a unique city manager–focused perspective and contributions to policy changes, Anthony also appreciated and highlighted the energy she brought to the UMC team. “I was even more interested in her laughs that brought a different vibe to the room during the meetings.”

A Model for Global Exchange

As UMC and ICMA continue fostering global relationships, this fellowship is a compelling example of the value of applied, collaborative knowledge exchange between global peers in local government.

“What I really enjoyed was the opportunity to work on so many different projects,” Vetter reflected. “It wasn’t just ‘here’s one project, go dig in, and we’ll see you at the end of it.’ I was working actively with staff and going out on site for many of these projects, and that really enhanced the experience on both ends.”

She underscored the broader significance of global knowledge exchanges. “These kinds of exchanges really improve the local government profession. They help us think differently, challenge assumptions, and ultimately enhance the services we deliver to our communities.”

She also emphasized the importance of translating international learning back home. “When I got back, I created a presentation to share with my council and staff so they could reap the benefits as well. It helps them see what’s possible and inspires different ways of thinking.” For Anthony, a true success of the fellowship was that “Nina’s presence in our office triggered everyone to learn a little more about city management globally.”

As communities worldwide strive for sustainability, resilience, and innovation, exchanges like these underscore the transformative power of shared learning across continents, systems, and solutions.

Watch the full Global Spotlight video interview here.