For Immediate Release

Washington, D.C. Contact: Cintya Flores, ICMA | 202-962-3692 | cflores@icma.org 

Puerto Rico Contact: Mickey Espada | 787-238-8312 | saludos@mickeyespada.com 

Washington, D.C., November 20, 2020 – ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, is pleased to announce that it has designated Mickey Espada as its Puerto Rico advisor. ICMA seeks to expand its membership in Puerto Rico and support local government leaders with the tools necessary to resolve challenges and manage the day-to-day operations of municipal governance. ICMA’s programs include student chapters at universities in the United States and around the world to introduce and integrate students into the local government management profession through ICMA’s member network and resources, as well as the ICMA Code of Ethics. A student chapter has already been set up at the Universidad Ana G. Mendez in Puerto Rico.

As ICMA’s Puerto Rico advisor, Espada will work to expand ICMA’s membership in Puerto Rico, increase the number of student chapters, support the organization of events with ICMA participation, and identify opportunities for ICMA to develop partnerships with Puerto Rican organizations to provide technical assistance and peer-to-peer networking in support of ICMA’s mission to advance professional local government through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics.

Espada brings more than 20 years of experience in key executive positions in the Puerto Rico Commonwealth and at the municipal level in service delivery, tourism, economic development, and other areas. He has been a steadfast advocate for local governments, working with mayors of all political affiliations in Puerto Rico. He played a critical role in connecting ICMA and its partners to all 78 municipalities post-María to conduct service and governance assessments. The findings informed recommendations for technical assistance and long-term strategies that were reflected in the final report, published by the government of Puerto Rico: “Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation: An Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan for Puerto Rico.”

For the past six years, Espada has been leading the organization of one of the most important international local government events in the Caribbean and Latin America, Experiencia Puerto Rico,  which serves as a platform for organizations like ICMA, the National League of Cities (NLC), and the Federation of Latin American Cities, Municipalities, and Associations (FLACMA) to share their best practices in local government management with governments and associations from throughout the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

About ICMA

ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government management worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA provides member support; publications; data and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to more than 12,000 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 has gathered more data on local government than any organization except the federal government, spanning a broad spectrum from economic development to local government innovation. Learn more at ICMA.org.