ICMA offers four conference assistance scholarships. These are divided into four categories:
- The Young Professional Scholarship is open to any ICMA member with three years’ or fewer experience as a full-time local government employee. There is no minimum salary requirement, although salary may be considered during the evaluation process.
- The Workplace Diversity Scholarship is open to women and minorities. It is the applicant’s responsibility to demonstrate (through additional information included in a required essay) how his or her background merits receipt of a diversity scholarship and how the local government and the community served will benefit from the individual’s conference attendance. There is no minimum salary or tenure cutoff for the Workplace Diversity Scholarship, although those factors may be considered during the evaluation process.
- The Member in Transition Scholarship is open to any member enrolled in ICMA’s MIT program.
- The Small Community Employee Scholarship is open to any member serving in a small community with limited financial resources. Applicants may self-select to apply for this scholarship. There is no minimum salary requirement, although salary may be considered during the evaluation process.
To be eligible for any of ICMA’s Conference Assistance Scholarships, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be a first-time ICMA Annual Conference attendee (this requirement is not applicable to persons applying for the MIT scholarship nor those who attended a past conference as a student member)
- Be a full-time local government employee (no part-time interns please/MITs excluded from this requirement)
- Submit a completed application form (see below)
- Demonstrate through an essay an avid interest in a career in local government management
- Submit two recommendation forms signed by local government managers or administrators who are familiar with your work.
Recipients of the Young Professional, Workplace Diversity, MIT or Small Community Employee Conference Assistance Scholarships receive complimentary registration to the ICMA Annual Conference and may receive limited travel/hotel assistance based on distance traveled. Eligible candidates may submit an application to any or all scholarship categories. Candidates for scholarships must be ICMA members by the time they arrive at the ICMA Annual Conference in September and are eligible for a special half-price membership rate. To access a membership application, contact ICMA’s Membership Services Department at 202/962-3680; membership@icma.org, or visit http://icma.org/JoinICMA.
Candidates to ICMA’s Conference Assistance Scholarship Program must submit the application form, essay, and recommendation forms by May 22 to: njames@icma.org. Late applications will not be accepted. Questions regarding ICMA’s Annual Conference Scholarship Program should be directed to njames@icma.org.
