Washington, D.C.—ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, announces that its Center for Management Strategies (the Center) is a key participant in a new, enhanced research initiative designed to expand development and dissemination of leading practices to local governments. This enhanced research partnership expands the work of the Alliance for Innovation (AFI), the seven-year-old partnership of the innovation network of local governments formerly known as The Innovation Groups, Arizona State University (ASU), and ICMA. 

AFI is committed to transforming local government by accelerating and promoting the development and diffusion of innovations. Through this enhanced partnership, AFI and ASU will expand their research to identify a wider array of emerging approaches and to assess them as potential leading practices in local government management. For selected practices, AFI and ASU will develop model training programs in conjunction with the ICMA Center for Management Strategies. The Center, in turn, will utilize its education and staff development activities to organize the delivery of these training programs and offer technical assistance to support local government officials in the successful adoption of new approaches that can lead to improved performance and service. The Center’s contributions to the AFI partnership will strengthen the shared capacity to identify new approaches and convert them into effective action throughout the local government community.  

Currently, the AFI initiative is researching two leading local government practices of civic engagement and collaborative service delivery. Another aspect of the enhanced partnership is to support an expanded flow of research, data collection, and management applications on these and additional emerging and leading practices identified by local government managers and academic researchers through a new Local Government Research Collaborative. The collaborative will support expanded research on local government performance and innovation by identifying research themes, offering seed grants to investigate high-priority topics, and strengthening the dialogue between academic researchers and local government professionals.    

For more information on the Center for Management Strategies or the expanded AFI/Center partnership visit www.icma.org/managementstrategies, or contact Cheryl Hilvert at chilvert@icma.org or 513-442-9233.

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advancing professional management to create sustainable communities that improve lives worldwide.  ICMA provides member support; publications; data and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to nearly 9,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA’s members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.

ICMA’s Center for Management Strategies assists local government managers in identifying those leading practices that can address organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The Center, through its network of technical assistance providers and subject matter experts, delivers quality educational programming and technical assistance to help local governments implement these practices to enhance their delivery of high quality service products that are valued by the stakeholders in their communities.

About AFI
The Alliance for Innovation is the partnership of local governments committed to innovation with ICMA and ASU that promotes excellence in local government and builds a community of practice in local government innovation. AFI is an international network of 350 progressive governments and partners, a board of directors representing the partners, and a national and regional staff. AFI seeks out innovative practices, challenges existing business models, exchanges knowledge, and provides products and services that help its members perform at their best. 

About ASU School of Public Affairs
The School of Public Affairs advances excellence in governance by creating, sharing, and applying knowledge of public administration and public policy. Integrally linked to its educational programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels, the school supports cutting edge basic and applied research. The Center for Urban Innovation is committed to improving the quality of life by promoting innovation in urban governance, policy, and management. Other school programs support research and outreach on participatory governance and policy informatics. The Marvin Andrews Fellowship Program in the MPA degree prepares future local government managers, and the Andrews Fellows spend their first year as researchers in the Alliance for Innovation.