HOST ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDE: 

WORK PLAN The purpose of the work plan is to ensure an enriching professional learning experience for the fellow. Work plans include details on such items as fellowship goals, mentor assignment, and fellowship structure.

DEDICATED MENTOR For the duration of the fellowship, the mentor will serve as the primary point of contact and coach. The mentor should hold a senior-level position in the organization and schedule a weekly or biweekly feedback session for the fellow to ask questions, have their resume reviewed, and seek career advice.

SALARY AND BENEFITS Host communities incur no financial costs for hosting a veteran fellow because the veteran is still on active military service and receives full pay and benefits from the military while participating in the fellowship as part of the transition from service.

ICMA PROVIDES: 

RECRUITMENT AND SCREENING  ICMA staff will recruit and screen all applicants for the program

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Fellows are expected to participate in several scheduled professional development calls with ICMA throughout their fellowship. Along with access to ICMA’s free coaching resources, fellows receive complimentary registration to the ICMA Annual Conference, and access to the local government 101 certificate. They are also granted free access to ICMA’s Management Assessment and a free subscription to PM magazine.

ICMA MEMBERSHIP Fellows receive a complimentary 2-year membership to ICMA with access to all qualifying member benefits.

Host Community Flyer

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is the host community required to offer employment after the fellowship?

A. No, the service member may apply for and compete for positions with the local government, as well as apply for jobs with any other local government they choose.

Q. Is the host community required to sign a contract to participate?

A. No, the host community is not required to sign a contract and is done voluntarily on a cohort to cohort basis.

Q. How often will I be asked to host a veteran?

A. It varies from cohort to cohort based on the number of applicants. This means that a host community may be asked to host a veteran for one cohort per year or up to three cohorts a year. But the community should only take on as many fellows as it has capacity for work and mentorship. Communities may also take a break between cohorts, or be a continuous host.

Q. What if my community is not near a military installation?

A. Some service members conduct their fellowships on a permissive temporary duty status (PTDY), meaning they can work way from their installation. Adding your community to the program partners page of this website will let veterans know that you would like to host a veteran. We have placed several veterans in different states; some veterans have family or friends in an area or want to return home.

Q. Who decides what projects the service member will be doing?

A. The projects are decided by the host community with the service member to meet the objectives of both parties.

Q. I'm ready - how do I sign-up to host?

A. Email lphillips@icma.org and note that you'd like to be considered as a VLGMF host, and when you're ready to begin. In the coming months, we'll have an online form you can complete to help us gather the information.