Join us for the 2025 SheLeadsGov Virtual Forum, where the theme "Innovate, Inspire, Impact" will guide our exploration of the future of local government. This dynamic event is designed to empower and connect leaders and changemakers who are passionate about driving innovation and making a meaningful impact in their organizations and communities.

Through engaging sessions and thought-provoking discussions, you'll gain valuable insights and practical strategies to inspire change and foster innovation in local government. This forum is perfect for seasoned professionals and emerging leaders, offering a unique opportunity learn from industry experts and contribute to shaping the future of local government.

Don't miss out on this chance to be part of a transformative experience. Register now to secure your spot and join a community dedicated to making a difference.

Registration

Courtesy of Cigna Healthcare, registration is complimentary and the Forum will be hosted live through ICMA's Learning Lab. In the event you cannot attend the live event, session recordings will be available via the ICMA Learning Lab.

New in 2025! Individuals who attend each live 1 hour session or complete a recorded session will earn 1 Continuing Education credit. 

Consider a Watch Party

A SheLeadsGov watch party is an engaging way to experience the SheLeadsGov Virtual Forum with colleagues and peers. It offers a unique blend of virtual and in-person elements, making it a valuable and enriching way to participate in the forum.

Watch parties can provide:

• Shared Viewing Experience: Gather with others to watch the virtual forum together, creating a sense of community and shared purpose.
• Networking Opportunities: Connect with colleagues from various departments, fostering relationships and collaboration.
• Interactive Components: Enhance the experience with in-person activities such as networking breakfasts, mindfulness breaks, and facilitated discussions about the forum's content.
• Engagement and Focus: By participating in a watch party, attendees can stay more engaged and focused on the event, minimizing distractions that often come with virtual attendance.

Schedule at a Glance

About this Event

The SheLeadsGov Virtual Forum, developed by ICMA and sponsored by ICMA Strategic Partner Cigna Healthcare, is dedicated to empowering leaders in local government with the tools, knowledge, and inspiration needed to drive meaningful change. The event is inspired by International Women’s Day and offers an extraordinary day for attendees of all generations, identities, titles, and career stages.

Whether you are a student, just entering the profession, or a seasoned manager, you don’t want to miss out on this incredible opportunity to network, learn, and grow with other like-minded individuals.

Full Schedule

Welcome by ICMA and Cigna Healthcare

11:00 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. ET

Pat Martel, West Coast Regional Director, ICMA

Kimberly Funderburk, President, Government, Education and Health Systems, Cigna

Leadership Unleashed: Harness Your Potential

11:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET

Prepare to be inspired by an empowering panel discussion featuring distinguished women executives and leaders who will explore the unique challenges and opportunities faced by women in roles within local government. Attendees will gain valuable perspectives on how to harness their confidence and creativity to drive leadership, innovation, and inclusivity. This session will emphasize the importance of fostering an environment that empowers women to become the next generation of leaders. Join us to be inspired, empowered, and equipped with the knowledge to shape the future of local government.

Moderator: Kimberly Funderburk, President, Government, Education and Health Systems, Cigna

Speakers:

• Stephanie Lucash, Deputy City Manager, City of Kenmore, Washington
• Jennifer Poirrier, City Manager, City of Clearwater, Florida
• Monica Spells, ICMA-CM, Deputy County Administrator, County of Loudoun, Virginia

Break

12:00 p.m. – 12:10 p.m. ET

The Future of Women in Local Government Starts Today

12:10 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

ICMA CEO/Executive Director Julia Novak will be introduced and provide inspiration for women in local government.

Keynote speaker Brooke Smith will draw from her career and personal journey to explore how women in local government can Innovate, Inspire, and Impact their communities. With actionable insights and heartfelt anecdotes, she invites us to begin shaping the future of public service today.

Speaker: Brooke Smith, NIGP-CPP, MMC, MIS, UCC; City Recorder, City of Murray City, Utah

Break

1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. ET

The Impact of Innovative Employee Health Initiatives 

1:10 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. ET

Join us for an engaging conversation on how the City of Scottsdale, Arizona has successfully cultivated a world-class culture of employee health and wellness. Discover how Scottsdale’s holistic approach to wellness, which includes physical, mental, financial, social, and emotional health, has led to remarkable outcomes. Learn about their data-driven initiatives, such as incentivizing preventive care, removing barriers to access, and creating customized solutions like the “Your Call” program for firefighters. Hear firsthand about the continuous improvements and employee engagement strategies that have made Scottsdale a model for other municipalities.

Speakers:

• Patty Jacobs, Senior Well-Being Coordinator, Cigna Healthcare
• Niki Logan, Senior Strategic Account Executive, Cigna Healthcare
• Lynna Soller, HR Manager, City of Scottsdale, Arizona

Closing

1:55 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Meet the Speakers

Pat Martel West Coast Regional Director and Past President, ICMA

Read Pat's Bio

Pat Martel was appointed ICMA West Coast Regional Director in July 2019 following a distinguished career in California local government management. During her 38-year tenure, Ms. Martel managed municipal operations in communities ranging in size from 67,000 to 850,000 including the cities of Inglewood, South San Francisco, San Francisco, Hayward, and Daly City.  

Throughout her career Ms. Martel has also been actively engaged in supporting the local government management profession as a board member of the League of CA Cities City Managers Department, Institute for Local Government, California City Management Foundation, Women Leading Government, Local Government Hispanic Network, and ICMA. She was elected to serve as an ICMA Executive Board Regional Vice-President and was selected by the board as the 102nd President of ICMA. In 2014, Pat was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in recognition of sustained exemplary contributions and commitment to improving public administration.  

Among numerous awards and recognition for her contributions to public service and the city management profession, Pat was named “City Manager of the Year” by the California City Management Foundation in 2017; honored for her “Career Excellence” by Women Leading Government and San Francisco State University acknowledged her with its Award for Significant and Outstanding Public Service.

A graduate of the University of Southern California, Martel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Public Affairs, and a master's degree in public administration.

Kimberly Funderburk President, Government, Education and Health Systems, Cigna Health Care

Read Kimberly's Bio

Kimberly Funderburk is Cigna’s President for Government, Education and Health Systems business and is responsible for the creation and execution of a national Government, Education and Health Systems strategy consistent with Cigna's overall value proposition. Kimberly also serves as a strategic and consultative resource to Cigna’s local market account teams, ensuring that Cigna's strategies, solutions and service deliver differentiated value and address the specific and unique needs of each Government, Education and Health System client.

She has over 20+ years of experience in the healthcare industry, many of which were previously spent at Cigna in a number of positions that spanned across Operations and Sales. Prior to her return, Kimberly led the Sales and Health & Wellness teams at Anthem BCBSGA. She has extensive Government and Education experience, having worked with numerous public entities, school systems, colleges and universities across the country during her time at Cigna and at Anthem BCBSGA.

Kimberly is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. She lives in Atlanta and is passionately committed to community and health engagement and advocacy.

Julia D. Novak, ICMA-CM Incoming CEO/Executive Director, ICMA

Read Julia's Bio

Julia D. Novak, ICMA-CM, joins ICMA as CEO/Executive Director in February of 2025. Julia will work closely with the ICMA Executive Board to serve our members and oversee all aspects of ICMA.  Julia is an experienced local government practitioner who served in Fort Collins, Colorado; Lexington, Massachusetts; Rockville, Maryland; and Rye, New York before turning to consulting in 2003.  As a consultant, Julia served as trusted advisor to jurisdictions of all sizes in all regions of ICMA.  Her global experience includes supporting local government work in Iraq and China, and work with Africa University in Zimbabwe. 

Julia has been a member of ICMA since her undergraduate days and was in the first class of members to receive the ICMA-CM designation in 2002.  Julia earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University. 

Patty Jacobs Senior Well-Being Coordinator, Cigna Healthcare

Read Patty's Bio

Patty Jacobs has been with Cigna since 2005 and serves as the Well-Being Coordinator for the City of Scottsdale. With over 18 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Patty is dedicated to developing well-being strategies that empower individuals to thrive – creating healthier, more resilient workplaces and communities.

As a Certified Wellness Program Coordinator and Adult Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Patty partners with employer groups and leadership teams to craft holistic well-being strategies that address the interconnected dimensions of health and wellness. Her work supports individuals at every stage of their well-being journey, helping them bring their best selves to work, their families, and their communities.

Patty’s mission is to inspire individuals to live with vitality and purpose, fostering a culture of well-being that drives meaningful change and leaves a lasting impact.

Niki Logan Senior Strategic Account Executive, Cigna Healthcare

Read Niki's Bio

Niki Logan is an experienced strategic sales and relationship manager with a demonstrated history of driving engagement. Using her dynamic skills she will align unique solutions to fit employer's needs. She is an excellent collaborator who thrives on strategy development, execution and evaluation to ensure team success. In her current role, as a Strategic Account Executive for Cigna Healthcare’s Middle Market segment Niki is responsible for growing membership within existing accounts and for directly managing business relationships with client accounts in partnership with brokers. She develops and implements strategies and policies relating to account management and owns the overall client/customer relationship and experience. She ensures that systems and processes are in place to meet the needs of internal and external partners.

In her previous role as a Dental Sales Manager in Arizona Niki was responsible for new dental sales in Cigna's Under 3000 segment as well as providing continued support for renewing dental clients in the market. In partnership with internal and external contacts Niki responded to dental bid specifications, worked with underwriters to develop pricing, understands customer needs and partners with the account management team to ensure smooth benefit implementation. 

Previous to her role as Dental Sales Manager, Niki spent 8 years on the Cigna Client and Customer Engagement team where she ultimately managed the O500 AZ engagement team as the Engagement Director.  This team works in conjunction with clients, brokers and their partners in evaluating present health management programs and assists in formulating strategic plans for future programs that include end to end customer engagement solutions focusing on the whole person health.  As a subject matter expert on engagement Niki will provide unique and innovative idea to help members engage with their benefit packages and best utilize plans. 

Stephanie Lucash Deputy City Manager, City of Kenmore, Washington

Read Stephanie's Bio

Stephanie Lucash is Deputy City Manager at the City of Kenmore, Washington. She has 30 years of public sector experience including management and leadership positions at the Cities of Kenmore, Seattle, and Covington, Washington and King County. 

Her work in Kenmore has been recognized with two statewide awards including being selected Washington State's Outstanding Assistant City Manager of the Year for 2023. In September 2024, she was awarded the national Leadership Trailblazer Award from the League of Women in Government and was inducted into the League of Women in Government Hall of Fame. 

She is Past President of the Board of Directors for the Washington City/County Management Association (WCMA). Under her leadership as WCMA President in 2023-2024, the WCMA had record-setting membership, launched a new mentorship program, and recruited a diverse slate of candidates that led to the WCMA Board being majority female for the first time in its history. She led an effort to launch a new Building Resilient Local Governments certificate program with the University of Washington and led the WCMA to be the first ICMA affiliate in the country to have an affiliate agreement with the International Network of Asian Public Administrators. 

Other board accomplishments include completion of the first Census of the Profession in Washington State and a survey and report on the Northwest Women’s Leadership Academy (NWWLA) that provided data on its successes and made recommendations for improvement.  

She serves on the NWWLA Executive Board and as its Recruitment and Selection Committee Chair and on other statewide boards including the Association of Washington Cities Board of Directors and as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Archives, Library and Legacy Foundation with the Washington State Secretary of State’s Office.  

Stephanie has a Master of Public Administration degree from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, certified Crucial Conversations trainer and Peacekeeper. She lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle with her husband, three children, and their rescue dog, a boxer. 

Jennifer Poirrier City Manager, City of Clearwater, Florida

Read Jennifer's Bio

Jennifer Poirrier became the city manager of Clearwater on April 4, 2023. Poirrier came to the city of Clearwater in August 2018 as human resources assistant director and quickly was promoted to human resources director. Prior to her time in Clearwater, she worked as human resources director at the city of Treasure Island for more than nine years.

Poirrier completed her Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Business/Human Resources at the University of South Florida and her Master of Business Administration in human resources at Florida Atlantic University. She is certified through the High Performance Leadership Academy, is a certified Professional in Human Resources, and is a member of the International City/County Management Association. In 2019, she was honored as a “2019 People First Honoree” by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Poirrier is an ICMA-credentialed candidate, with expected credentialed status to be awarded in October 2025.

Brooke Smith, NIGP-CPP, MMC, MIS, UCC, City Recorder, City of Murray City, Utah

Read Brooke's Bio

Brooke Smith is a local government leader with over 20 years of experience in public administration and policy. As the City Recorder for Murray City, Brooke is dedicated to advancing the role of women in public service and equipping government professionals to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Her leadership has driven transformative initiatives, including the procurement and development of a $35 million city hall, the modernization of procurement and records processes, and the integration of cutting-edge AI solutions to enhance administrative efficiency.

A champion of innovation and education, Brooke has served in key leadership roles, including the 2022 President of the Utah Chapter of NIGP, Board Member of the NIGP Finance Council, and Board Member of Utah Women Leading Government. She is passionate about empowering women to take bold steps toward executive leadership by embracing curiosity, critical thinking, and cautious optimism.
 

Lynna Soler HR Manager, City of Scottsdale, Arizona

Read Lynna's Bio

Lynna Soller is the benefits manager at City of Scottsdale.  In this role her focus is on ensuring sustainable benefit solutions that align with employee needs and organizational goals.  Prior to City of Scottsdale, Lynna spent 16 years managing benefits for other governmental agencies including cities of Tempe, Chandler and Arizona State University.  Lynna began her career in general human resources in operations and manufacturing at Freeport McMoRan (formerly Phelps Dodge Corporation) and The Pepsi Bottling Group.   Lynna has a Bachelors degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland, SHRM-SCP designation and Certified Benefits Professional certification from WorldatWork.  

Monica Spells, ICMA-CM Deputy County Administrator, County of Loudoun, Virginia

Read Monica's Bio

Monica Spells understood from an early age what helping others through public service could look like when her family lived in Northern Virginia, and she participated in a grade school tour of the U.S. Capitol and national monuments in D.C. filled with stories about people who have helped shape American history.
Monica currently serves as a Deputy County Administrator for Loudoun County, Virginia. Before joining Loudoun County, she served as an Assistant County Administrator in South Carolina and other leadership roles in state government and the private sector.

She contributes her time and insights to several organizations aimed at serving and elevating others. Monica has presented at professional association conferences and webinars and written several articles for Public Management magazine. She currently serves as a Co-Vice-Chair for ICMA’s SheLeadsGov Committee and is a past Co-Chair of ICMA’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Committee. Monica has also served as an ICMA Welcome Ambassador in addition to serving at different times on the ICMA Conference Evaluation Committee and Conference Education committees. Some of her other memberships include the Virginia Local Government Management Association and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, for which she serves as a Mentor in its longstanding program to positively impact the professional development of emerging public administrators.

Monica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Charleston, the first municipal college in the U.S., and a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina. She has completed the National Association of Counties’ High-Performance Leadership Academy, the South Carolina Institute for County Officials, the South Carolina Economic Development Institute, the Senior Executive Institute of the Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, and the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute. Monica has also completed the Athenian and Women in the Civic Arena programs conducted by the College of Charleston’s Riley Center for Livable Communities. She has earned the ICMA Credentialed Manager designation.