For the second year in a row, ELGL will be co-hosting an event at the ICMA Conference. This year we’re bringing a couple of pianos and booking a much larger room. More than 500 local government professionals from all areas of local government will attend. Registration will continue until we reach maximum capacity. We recommend registering as soon as possible. Let’s get prepared for the ELGL and ICMA “Mixing in Perfect Harmony” event by hearing from our guests.
Kayla Chadwick
Village Administrator- Village of Butler, WI
Connect: LinkedIn
If you could pick any three bands (dead or alive) as the opening act for the Dueling Pianos event, which would you choose?
- Mumford and Sons
- One Republic
- Justin Timberlake
When I learned the ICMA Conference was being held in Seattle, I thought….
STARBUCKS!
I knew local government was the career for me when….. I was chosen to be the intern for the City Manager in my college town, Whitewater, WI. Fortunately for me the City Manager was an amazing leader and wasn’t shy to let me take on projects. I got to work on everything from a financial analysis, to creating a public/private partnership in the form on an Innovation Center. The diversity of projects and activities I saw during by internship really led me to find a passion for local government. I ended up taking a job with the Federal Government after graduation, but I found my way back to local government and couldn’t be happier!
Our #13Percent Initiative focuses on increasing diversity in the local government workforce. Give us your perspective — does local government have an issue? what, specifically, can we do to increase diversity in the workforce?
I agree that diversity in the local government workforce is an issue. I am my community’s first female administrator, and one of the youngest in the State of Wisconsin. My community was incorporated in 1913 and until 2014, had white men lead this community. While I receive quite a bit of prejudice regarding my gender, I receive far more prejudice due to my age. In my perspective, the way to increase diversity in local government is twofold.
1) Empower aspiring administrators or other local gov employees to better themselves and challenge societal norms. Give them the confidence and resources to make themselves the best candidates for the position they want, and to know that just because they (at this point in time) may not be adequately represented in local gov, doesn’t mean that they are any less deserving or qualified to be a local gov employee. I had only been in local gov for 4 years (serving anything from an intern, deputy clerk to an assistant manager). But I had great mentors who believed I could become an administrator, and had the confidence to take on ‘the big chair.’
2) Inform and educate elected officials, particularly when it comes to hiring managers/administrators. Many elected officials like the ‘it’s always been this way’ mentality, and struggle to see past it. Keeping elected officials informed and educated on the profession as a whole will hopefully break down their preconceived notions of what a local government manager should look like. My challenge to elected officials in the hiring process is to take a calculated risk. My Board took a risk on me when they hired me in 2014, a 26 year old, female, first time administrator. I am happy to say… the risk paid off.
First… as a diehard Packers fan, I have to say, this is a sore subject, and that Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t have done that. But anyways, my best tip for rebounding from difficult situations is to know who you can trust. This goes for personally and professionally, find those people who you know regardless of the situation that you trust to confide in, seek advice from, or to just be a sounding board. If you don’t have people in your inner circle who you implicitly trust and who trust you in return, you will often find yourself feeling like you are an island by yourself when times get difficult.