Marc A. Ott is CEO/Executive Director of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, which advances professional local government worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA is the authority on leadership and management for appointed professional managers and administrators serving U.S. and international local governments. Marc’s responsibilities include working closely with the ICMA Executive Board and more than 12,000 members to support and advocate for professional and ethical local government management and for forming global partnerships to further ICMA’s mission.

Prior to joining ICMA, Marc served for nearly 9 years as city manager of Austin, Texas, then a full-service city with 40+ departments, a workforce of 14,000 employees, an all-funds budget of $3.8 billion, and a triple-A bond rating that was maintained throughout his tenure. Austin is widely recognized as being one of the "Best Managed Cities in America."

Marc’s distinguished career in municipal management includes leadership roles in the cities of Fort Worth, Texas; Rochester Hills, Michigan; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Among his many awards, Marc received ICMA’s highest professional honor, the Award for Career Excellence in Memory of Mark E. Keane. The National Forum for Black Public Administrators also bestowed upon him both its Marks of Excellence Award and its 2020 Hall of Fame Award.

Marc completed the Senior Executives Program in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and has a master’s degree in public administration from Oakland University in Michigan.