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Acknowledging the Past & Learn From the Mistakes of Our Ancestors

This article is written by Melissa Bridges, performance and innovation coordinator, City of Little Rock, Arkansas. She wrote this article as part of the Equity Ambassadors Cohort. You can find all the articles for this cohort here. “Mom, why are all those people at the Capitol building downtown? Why are the police shooting at them?...

2020 Online Community Engagement Cohort Applications Now Open

As part of our mission to help our members find joy in public service, ELGL offers high-quality, accessible, affordable learning opportunities in a variety of formats. This month, we're opening applications to our next Level Up Cohort, a three-month program to help local governments adapt to online community engagement, learn the basics, and create a...

Class is Now in Session

Today’s Buzz is by Brianna Lennon — connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn. Remember going to conferences? Those semi-annual meetings to commiserate about challenges in our fields, learn from each other, and catch up with friends...in person? In the era of COVID-19, hard pass. The pandemic has affected everything from election administration to budget planning, and it...

We’re Better Together (So Let’s Not Let COVID Tear Us Apart)

This article is written by Christopher K Orlea, PhD - Director of Parks & Recreation Pearland, TX. He wrote this article as part of the Equity Ambassadors Cohort. You can find all the articles for this cohort here. You’re more than a number or a test result. Your life as you’ve lived it until this...

Podcast: Leadership Through Crisis with Betsy Hodges, Kauffman Mayors Council

Betsy Hodges Advisor, Writer, Speaker Former Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota Bio | Twitter | LinkedIn Managing ongoing uncertainty. Betsy Hodges, former Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, jointed the podcast to talk about the work of the Kauffman Mayors' Council and leading during a time of crisis. She discussed the importance of communication, understanding what's right, and...

Understanding Gender Imbalance in Public Sector Leadership

July 14, 2020 - ELGL members Leisha Dehart-Davis and Kimberly Nelson's "Near the Top Project" is available from Cambridge University Press for two weeks for free. Click here to view this publication You can also listen to Leisha and Kimberly's GovLove podcast on their research: Click here to listen to GovLove

Annual Membership Meeting: Budget Overview & Bylaws Change

You're invited to ELGL's annual membership meeting! Please join us on August 18 at Noon PT/ 2:00 CT/ 3:00 ET Our annual meeting will include an update of FY20 highlights, a review of the FY21 budget, and, most importantly, a vote by our membership to approve the transition of ELGL from a 501c6 to a 501c3...

This Week With ELGL: Week of July 13, 2020

Please join us for four events this week: Webinar: Driving Equity Solutions Through Program Level Data July 14, 2020 Webinar: How Public Servants Can Fight for Racial Justice July 16, 2020 Virtual Ideation: #ELGL20 Conference Sessions July 16, 2020 #CityHallShelfie: ELGL’s Book Club July 16, 2020

Improving Citizen Engagement in Online Forums & Public Meetings

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash This article is written by Brian Murphy (LinkedIn/Twitter) and coauthored by Nathan Lee, CivicPulse. As local governments work to connect with community members in a socially distant way, online meetings and public forums have become the new normal as in-person meetings have become impossible. Online messaging tools like email...

Examples of USDR COVID-19 Projects

This guest blog is by ELGL member Jessica MacLeod. Connect with her on LinkedIn. For the past few months at U.S. Digital Response (USDR), we have been placing pro-bono technologists to help government agencies at the state and local level respond to economic needs in their communities while also building tools and workflows to aid...

A Contrarian View on Social Media

Today’s Buzz is by Tim Gomez– connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter! What I am watching: IT Chapter 2 What I am listening to: 80s Rock Music Playlist What I am reading: Snowblind by Christopher Golden The internet, and social media by extension, is one of the most important and pervasive inventions in our lifetime. The amount of information that...

I Have to Ask: Overcoming Internal Baggage

In this series, ELGL co-founder Kent Wyatt poses three questions to the guest columnist, and the guest columnist selects one to reflect on. This week, Heidi Voorhees, president and co-owner of GovHR USA, shares advice for when navigating the recruitment process when you are the internal candidate. The good news is you are an internal...

Can Your Budget Handle a Presidential Campaign Rally?

Learn more about presidential campaign stops at ELGL’s July 21 virtual event: Local Government Preparation for Presidential Candidate Visits By Sarah E. Moss, MPA | LinkedIn | Twitter What I’m listening to – Music by Judith Hill What I’m reading – Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein What I’m writing...

2020 Water Resources Cohort applications now open

As part of our mission to help our members find joy in public service, ELGL offers high-quality, accessible, affordable learning opportunities in a variety of formats. This month, we're opening applications to our next Cohort Sprint, focused on learning about water resources and water management in modern governance systems. Wicked Problems might be the theme...

Not Your Father's Bureaucrat, Ben Kittelson on the Local Matters Podcast

This week, ELGL's very own Ben Kittelson appeared on the Local Matters Podcast to talk about his love of local government. Ben shared his career path into the field and what he has worked on in his local government jobs especially the fun work of budget offices. He also talked about trends he's seeing across...

Podcast: Local Matters with Janice Allen Jackson

Janice Allen Jackson Principal, Janice Allen Jackson & Associates LLC Host of Local Matters Bio | Twitter | LinkedIn Public service and voter education. Janice Allen Jackson, Principal at Janice Allen Jackson & Associates and Host of Local Matters, joined the podcast to talk about her career path in local government and her current efforts...

Meet the 2020 Crisis Management Cohort

Join us in welcoming the 2020 Crisis Management Cohort participants! These 36 local government professionals have signed on for a six-week course from ELGL & The Drucker Institute on how to balance competing values, prepare for planned abandonment, and ensure equity in the face of unprecedented changes and challenges. The cohort kicks off next week...

Involving Your Community in the Development Review Process

This guest post is by Michelle Stephens, AICP, Engagement Manager at Bang the Table 2020 continues to shine a bright light on local government, including the processes and functions it does and doesn't do well. As a planner and President of the Colorado Chapter of the American Planning Association, I'm particularly interested in how local government is...

The Pandemic Exposes Our Equity Crisis — Now It’s Up to Us to Fix It

This article is written by Fabio Ramos de Andrade, Human Rights and Equity Analyst, City of Eugene, Oregon. Connect with Fabio by LinkedIn or email. He wrote this article as part of the Equity Ambassadors Cohort. You can find all the articles for this cohort here. Since the novel coronavirus and the Covid-19 disease spread...