HOLD FOR RELEASE:   October 25, 2017     

CONTACT:   Michele Frisby, Director, Public Information, mfrisby@icma.org; 202-962-3658

SAN ANTONIO, TX—Heather M. Geyer, administrative services director, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, was installed today as a Mountain Plains Regional Vice President of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, during the organization’s 103rd Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected to the three-year term on June 23.    

ICMA’s mission is to advance professional local government management worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. The organization’s 11,000+ members from 32 countries include appointed chief administrative officers (city, town, and county managers), assistant and deputy administrators, and other employees who serve local governments and regional entities around the world. ICMA’s membership also includes educators and students.

“We are honored that Heather will join the ICMA Executive Board as Midwest Vice President,” said ICMA Executive Director Marc A. Ott. “The individuals who serve on the ICMA Executive Board are outstanding leaders, not only in their own communities but also in the field of professional local government management. These individuals are committed to moving our organization and our profession forward, and we appreciate the time, energy, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness that Heather and the other newly elected members of the board will bring to ICMA.”

ICMA’s 21-member Executive Board acts in the capacity of directors, overseeing the organization’s financial, member-related, and programmatic affairs and selecting the board president. The board also enforces ICMA’s Code of Ethics, which governs the professional and personal conduct of the membership.  ICMA Executive Board members attend four board meetings annually.

“It is truly an honor to serve on the ICMA Executive Board,” Geyer said during her board orientation. “For me, it’s about giving back to ICMA because the organization has invested in my professional growth. A few years ago, when I participated in ICMA’s Leadership ICMA Program, it was a pivotal point in my career. That’s when I started thinking that one day becoming a member of the board would provide an opportunity for me to contribute in a new and different way. Professional local government management has been a very rewarding experience for me, and I look forward to working with Executive Director Marc Ott and the ICMA staff to make a difference in our association.”

As one of 18 Vice Presidents, three of whom are elected from the organization’s Mountain Plains Region (which includes Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming), Mr. Jayne will represent ICMA to state associations of local government management and maintain relationships among other affiliated organizations. The Mountains Plains Region is one of five ICMA regions in the U.S. Three additional vice presidents are elected from countries outside the U.S.

Ms. Geyer began her career as a management assistant with Greenwood Village, Colorado, a position she held from 2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2006, she served as a management specialist with Greenwood before accepting the position of assistant to the city manager/public information officer with the city of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She assumed her current position in 2010.  

A member of ICMA since 1999, in 2012, Ms. Geyer was honored with an ICMA Local Government Excellence Award for Strategic Leadership & Governance for her role in the city of Wheat Ridge’s A.C.T.I.O.N! – Mission Rollout, a three-year-long culture development program.

Ms. Geyer also served as president of the Colorado Municipal Management Assistants Association (2001-02) and as a member of the board of the Colorado City/County Management Association (2002-03). She has been a member of the Alliance for Innovation Committee on Big Ideas since 2014 and served as one of the group’s chief ambassadors since 2010.                 

Ms. Geyer earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver in 2000 and a Master of Political Science with an emphasis in Public Policy from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2006. Additionally, she is a graduate of ICMA’s Emerging Leaders Development Program (2010), Senior Executive Institute (2014), and Leadership ICMA (2015).

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government 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 11,000 appointed city, town, and county leaders 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 throughout the world, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.