Sunday Sessions

Lindsey Cormack

Civic Readiness Starts Early: The Possibilities for Local Leaders

Sunday, October 26 | 10:15am-11:15am

In an era where trust in government is fragile and civic knowledge and know-how are at a low point, local leaders are uniquely positioned to shape how communities understand, access, and sustain local democracy. Drawing from the insights of How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It), this interactive session explores the routes to our current civic deficit, opportunities for improvement and some practical, day-to-day ways that elected and appointed officials can help to create a culture of civic readiness that begins in childhood and extends through ongoing interactions.

This session will unpack how officials within cities and counties can act as embolden civic educators. Beyond the local school systems, every local governmental touchpoint with the public offers opportunities to build civic fluency and citizen agency. Participants will work through how to model democratic participation in nonpartisan and developmentally appropriate ways across all ages of constituents and residents.

Participants will look at examples from schools and local governments that are successfully integrating civic education into community programming and further consider how these efforts align with long-term goals of civic stability, resilience, and informed participation of all segments of our communities. Our civic future does not have to be bleak and respect for our democratic institutions can flourish once again if we rededicate our profession and communities to model behaviors that prepare the next generation for civic readiness.

Dr. Lindsey Cormack is an author, political science professor, and educator committed to making government and politics more accessible and less intimidating. She is the author of How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It) and Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis. Lindsey serves as an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology, where she directs the Diplomacy Lab. She has received multiple awards for excellence in the classroom, including the Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the School of Humanities’ Outstanding Teaching Award. She is also the creator of DCInbox, a public archive of every official e-newsletter sent by sitting members of Congress, used by journalists, educators, and researchers to track political messaging in real time. Her work has been featured on C-SPAN’s BookTV, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Big Think, The Hill, Bloomberg Businesswire, FiveThirtyEight, ProPublica, Roll Call, The New York Post, NBC News, the LSE USCentre, The Conversation, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Hechinger Report, The ’74, and more. She routinely sits for podcast interviews including The Holderness Family Podcast, BDABaby with Katherine Schwarzenegger, Psychologists Off the Clock, This Is Woman’s Work with Nicole Kalil, Petal Modeste’s Parenting for the Future, and more. She regularly contributes to webinars and national forums focused on civic engagement, political polarization, and parenting in a divided era. She’s also serves in local government roles, including and Secretary of her Manhattan Community Board and Chair of the Street Life Committee.

Monday Sessions

Alicia McKay

Local Legends: How to Make a Difference In Local Government with Alicia McKay

Monday, October 27 | 2:45pm-3:45pm

We are thrilled to announce Alicia McKay, New Zealand and Australia’s local government leadership expert, will join us at the ICMA conference. Alicia’s 2024 book Local Legends has quickly become a best-seller thanks to its sharp and practical insights on how elected and executive members can become more strategic and impactful for their Councils and communities.

In this keynote, Alicia will share her insights from working with dozens of New Zealand and Australian Councils to become more strategic and share practical tools for broadening your perspective, making better decisions, and building stronger relationships between governance and management.

Alicia McKay is New Zealand’s straight-talking strategist. Author, speaker, consultant and entrepreneur, she has worked on strategy, change, and leadership with over 120 organisations, from tiny charities and rural Councils to global corporations and federal agencies. Alicia is an internationally recognised local government expert. She partners with local government associations to deliver training and events and is a trusted advisor to local, state, and federal governments on local government issues. Alicia is the author of From Strategy to Action, You Don’t Need An MBA, From Strategy and Local Legends.