ICMA Executive Board Nominations Process

The ICMA Executive Board looks forward to working with state and country associations and affiliate organizations on identifying individuals for this important leadership responsibility. ICMA strongly encourages individuals who are interested in pursuing this leadership opportunity to reach out to their state/country association president, affiliate organization president, current or former regional vice presidents, and/or regional director, as applicable.

Eligibility and the selection process for regional vice presidents are governed by the ICMA Constitution and each region's Regional Nominating Agreement. The ICMA Executive Board has established Guidelines for the nominations and election process to ensure consistency across ICMA's regions.

"Service on the ICMA Executive Board is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's an opportunity to shape the future of the profession. To advocate for our membership, preserve democratic values, and inspire the emerging generation. Board service is important because we need courageous leaders who are willing to work hard and do the right thing." - Heather Geyer, former Mountain Plains Regional Vice President

Nominations Information by Topic

BOARD SERVICE

ICMA Executive Board members provide governance to the association and are responsible for selecting the ICMA president and supervising the association’s executive director/CEO, providing fiduciary oversight, representing the association, and adopting policies to advance ICMA’s mission and vision, thereby exercising a critical leadership role for the local government management profession. The board also enforces the organization’s Code of Ethics, which governs the professional and personal conduct of the membership. View the Expectations of Board Service.

SCHEDULE

2024-2025 Regional Nominations and Annual Election Schedule
Week of October 14, 2024	Letters sent via email to members eligible to serve on the Executive Board, tailored by region. Sent only to members in states/countries and/or position types in rotation for the region.
October 15, 2024	Call for nominations officially opens and submission materials are accepted.
December 13, 2024	Deadline for state associations and affiliate organizations to appointment Regional Nominating Committee members.
January 10, 2025	Deadline for all candidate names, statements of interest, resumes, list of contributions, letters of endorsement/support, and petitions. Materials submitted after this deadline will not be accepted.
Late February - Early April 2025	Six Regional Nominating Committees convene virtually to interview candidates.
April 29, 2025	Annual election ballots made available online for Corporate members and mailed to Corporate members without email addresses.
May 30, 2025	Deadline for completion or return of election ballots.
Week of June 9, 2025	Ballots canvassed by Canvassing Committee of three Corporate members.
June 17, 2025	Results published in ICMA Leadership Matters and announced to the membership.

ELIGIBILITY

Regional Vice Presidents represent the ICMA geographic region in which they reside at the time of the election. The six regions are Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, Mountain Plains, West Coast, and International.

Corporate members serving in a full-time, appointed position to a local government are eligible to run for a vacant regional vice president seat. Corporate members include:

i. Full members, i.e., CAOs or assistant/deputy CAOs

ii. Affiliate members who have a minimum of five years of service to a local government and five years of membership in ICMA, i.e., entry to mid-level management or department heads.*

*Affiliate members meeting the eligibility criteria stated above can only run for a position in their region’s designated "non-CAO" year. 2024-2025 is the designated "non-CAO" year for the Midwest region only.

Members who want to be considered for nomination are also subject to the rotation system and selection criteria in the customized Geographical Protocols outlined in the Regional Nominating Agreements for each election year. The rotation of eligible states/countries and position-types change each year and requirements can differ by region. Interested members should review the Geographical Protocols contained in their region's Regional Nominating Agreement. For questions, contact your regional director if residing in the United States, or email icmanominations@icma.org if residing internationally.

OPEN POSITIONS

Each year, each region has one regional vice president position become available. The 21-member board consists of a president, a president-elect, a past president, and 18 regional vice presidents. There are six regions and each region is represented by three regional vice presidents. All regional vice presidents serve three-year terms. Each year, the state and country associations and affiliate organizations work with ICMA to identify and nominate a regional vice president for the region to appear on the ballot for election by the membership.

IMPORTANT: ICMA Corporate members are subject to the eligibility criteria contained in the ICMA Constitution and are also subject to the eligibility criteria contained in the Geographical Protocols outlined in the Regional Nominating Agreements for each of the six regions. Note that the state association leadership in each of the five U.S. regions have agreed on the geographical protocols that define the rotation among states and position-types for each year.

SUBMISSION MATERIALS

IN ORDER TO INTERVIEW BEFORE A REGIONAL NOMINATING COMMITTEE, PROSPECTIVE CANDIDATES MUST SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS BY THE ESTABLISHED ANNUAL DEADLINE OF JANUARY 10, 2025:

IMPORTANT: All items must be emailed in a single PDF packet/attachment to ICMA via icmanominations@icma.org. Late submissions will not be accepted. Materials will be shared with the appropriate Regional Nominating Committee prior to interviews.

A statement of your qualifications for board service and your view of the issues facing ICMA. Two-page limit.
Current resume.
A list of any contributions you have made to ICMA and state/country/affiliate organizations, such as service on a committee, board, etc.
Thoughtful letters of support from members or letters of endorsement from state, country or affiliate associations that can aid the Regional Nominating Committee in understanding your qualities, achievements, and potential contributions to the Board. (Optional, but recommended.)

Note: Petitions are optional and not required in order to come before the Regional Nominating Committee as a candidate for their consideration. However, if a candidate chooses to submit a petition they must do so by the established annual deadline. See section Election Ballot, B. Qualification By Petition below for more information. Some state or country associations or affiliate organizations have a separate endorsement process that requires a petition from their members, however, ICMA does not require a petition.

REGIONAL NOMINATING COMMITTEES

The six Regional Nominating Committees (one per region) are responsible for interviewing qualified individuals who can best represent the local government management profession on the ICMA Executive Board. Every year, each Regional Nominating Committee will interview candidates and can only select one candidate to appear as the region's recommended nominee on the ICMA annual election ballot. ICMA Corporate members then have the opportunity to vote for vice presidents in each region on the annual election ballot.

The Regional Nominating Committees in the five U.S. regions are composed of a representative of each state association that has an affiliation agreement with ICMA and a representative of each affiliate organization designated by the board to participate in the nominations process. All representatives/appointees must reside in the committee's respective region. The ICMA President (or designee) also serves on each Regional Nominating Committee meaning that ICMA only has one vote per region. The current vice presidents in each region will attend and observe the interview process for each candidate, but do not vote. The ICMA President (or designee) and appointees/representatives of state associations or affiliate organizations are voting members of each of the five U.S. Regional Nominating Committees who select the region’s recommended nominee to appear on the annual election ballot.

State associations: Each primary state association that has an affiliation agreement with ICMA may designate a representative for its Regional Nominating Committee and may determine the selection of its representative. The state president, if an ICMA member, would presumably participate. Otherwise, the state president must appoint an ICMA member in good standing and in-service to local government to serve on the committee.
Affiliate organizations: Each affiliate organization, designated as such by the board for the purpose of governance, has the opportunity to identify a representative for each of the five U.S. Regional Nominating Committees. As of 2024, the Board has designated CivicPRIDE, the International Network of Asian Public Administrators (I-NAPA), Local Government Hispanic Network (LGHN), National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA), and the National Association of County Administrators (NACA) as U.S. affiliate organizations that are asked to identify a representative, as well as the SheLeadsGov member committee. The representative must be an ICMA member in good standing and should be working in service to local government to serve on the committee.
The senior ICMA Regional Vice President (in his or her third and final year of board service) from each region selects an individual to serve as chair of the Regional Nominating Committee for that region and is responsible for orienting the chair to this process. ICMA Regional Directors serve as secretariats for their respective U.S. Regional Nominating Committee and are available to answer questions on the process, assist the committee during the interviews, and are responsible for notifying the candidates and ICMA of the results of the committee’s selection.

The Regional Nominating Committee for the International region is composed of the ICMA President (or designee), the senior International Vice President (who may also serve as the ICMA President’s designee), 2-3 former ICMA international board members, chair and vice chair of the International Committee, 1-2 representatives from affiliated countries that have eligible members and, preferably, who are not represented by the current regional vice presidents, and a chair that should be selected from a country with no current candidates. The two remaining current vice presidents for the International region will attend and observe the interview process for each candidate, but do not vote. Regional Nominating Committee appointees must be ICMA members in good standing and all members will be international with the exception of the chair or vice-chair of the International Committee, one of whom has been an American. ICMA staff serves as the secretariat for the International Region.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE ASSOCIATIONS, COUNTRY ASSOCIATIONS AND AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS

The regional nominations process is a key element in the governance of ICMA. State and country associations and affiliate organizations are important partners with ICMA and are encouraged to identify and develop future leaders to serve on the ICMA Executive Board. "State associations" refers to U.S. state associations that have an affiliation agreement with ICMA. "Country associations" refers to international country associations that have an affiliation agreement with ICMA. "Affiliate organizations" refers to U.S. affiliate organizations designated by the Executive Board to participate in the nominations process. These associations and organizations foster a new generation of innovative, positive, and principled leaders in local government management and work toward a diverse and inclusive membership that reflects the make-up of our communities.

State and country associations, and affiliate organizations are encouraged to submit multiple candidates for consideration. Each year, the ICMA President communicates with state and country associations and affiliate organization presidents encouraging them to submit names of any eligible and qualified members they would like to have considered as vice presidential candidates. States, countries, and affiliates are asked to review the geographical protocols for each election year in the region's Regional Nominating Agreements so they can understand the rotation system for that election year. If a state or country association or affiliate organization chooses to endorse candidates, they may provide a written endorsement to the candidate by the established annual deadline.

In the five U.S. regions, the state associations and affiliate organizations are also responsible for appointing ICMA members in good standing and in-service to local government within the respective region to serve on a Regional Nominating Committee.

EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES

The Regional Nominating Committees follow the ICMA Executive Board’s policy to recruit nominees who will provide a balanced board that represents the profession and those served by it. The committees use the following criteria, established by the Board, to evaluate candidates:

Experience in local government.
Service to ICMA and its affiliates.
Diversity in the nominees and the continuing board members with whom they will serve in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and age. (Acknowledging that ICMA will continue to monitor other membership demographics such as population size, jurisdiction type, and position type).
Demonstration of ethical behavior.
Support for the profession via work with ICMA, state/affiliate organizations or other organizations.
Commitment to follow the election guideline.
Quality or caliber for board service.
Participation in ICMA’s Voluntary Credentialing Program, if eligible.

ELECTION BALLOT

There are two ways for a member’s name to appear on the annual election ballot, A. Regional Nominating Committee Nomination, and B. Qualification by Petition:

A. Regional Nominating Committee Nomination

In order to interview before a Regional Nominating Committee for nomination, prospective candidates must submit the required materials by the established annual deadline. See Submission Materials section on this page.

B. Qualification by Petition

Petitions are not required in order to come before the Regional Nominating Committee as a candidate for their consideration. If a member meets the requirements and, after being interviewed by the appropriate Regional Nominating Committee, does not receive the nomination, the member has the option to appear independently on the election ballot only if they submitted a petition by the established annual deadline. The sole purpose of petitions is to allow a member the opportunity to qualify independently for nomination. Regional Nominating Committees do not review submitted petitions, but ICMA staff verify the necessary 15 ICMA Corporate member signatures and provide the committees with the names of those candidates eligible to appear on the ballot. Letters of support from individual Corporate members may also count towards the 15-signature requirement. To aid in verification, signatures on petitions must include printed or typed names, and position titles.

In order to qualify by petition, qualified members must submit a petition signed by 15 Corporate ICMA members by the established annual deadline. Signatures on petitions must be accompanied by printed/typed full names and position titles for verification. View the petition.

ICMA has a long tradition of relying on the regional nominations process to identify a single nominee from among multiple candidates in a region. Historically, there has been a preference for relying on the nominations process instead of having a competitive election ballot with active campaigning. However, eligible members may also qualify to appear on the election ballot independent of the nominations process by petition. Campaign Guidelines have also been established by the ICMA Executive Board.

Note that some state or country associations or affiliate organizations have a separate endorsement process that requires a petition from their members, however, ICMA does not require a petition.

Resources

Contact Us

U.S. candidates: If you have questions about the nominations process in your region, contact your state association or affiliate organization president, or your regional director. Use the State Leadership / Liaison Directory. International candidates, contact ICMA staff at icmanominations@icma.org.

For general inquiries about the nominations or election process, contact ICMA staff at icmanominations@icma.org.

For questions about membership status, contact ICMA staff at membership@icma.org.

Topics

Leadership

Job Titles

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer (ACAO) Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Department Heads