General

This training provides for city leaders an introductory overview history of institutional and structural racism in America, and its long standing impacts on social issues and outcomes today. This training will equip leaders with a shared language for racial equity terminology and concepts, and examination of the governing for racial equity framework concepts: normalizing, organizing... Read more »

Developed by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), UrbanPlan is a realistic and engaging simulation in which participants learn about and wrestle with the fundamental forces that affect urban development. Participants, playing the role of an interdisciplinary real estate development team, will experience the challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs, and fundamental economics... Read more »

One certainty of municipal leadership is that disruption happens in all cities, whether by accident or design. When change happens, leaders, staff, and residents all respond from our own interests and needs. Structuring governance to account for and engage with those stakeholders before, during, and after disruption ensures a stronger path forward for everyone; it... Read more »

Leaders walk in knowing that to meet their objectives, they will need to make changes. Change brings resistance and headwinds. How you lead in those moments of change can either create momentum to move your project forward or more hurdles, and will ultimately define your legacy. We will identify strategies for internal management – what... Read more »

It is tragic for everyone any time a police officer uses deadly force. It is often also a source of significant disruption in a city and local community. Mayor Hodges faced that situation twice in her time as mayor, including an 18-day occupation of the grounds of a police precinct, and the lessons she learned... Read more »

While some conversations and collaboration come naturally and all parties leave motivated for positive action, other conversations and partnerships do not yield the same result. How do you effectively lead while leaving room for the tough conversations facing our communities; collaborate across your city and move the needle on the most important challenges your city... Read more »

As a continuation of the 101-level course, this is the next level of learning in which you will get an opportunity to dig deeper into understanding the components of institutional and systemic racism. Participants will explore best practices for addressing these challenges in local government. Specialists from the NLC REAL (Race, Equity and Leadership) team... Read more »

Participants in this session will learn through hands-on, interactive and applied learning how to apply a Priority Based Budgeting approach to fuel resources towards the achievement of Economic Inclusivity. Priority Based Budgeting is framework for evaluating options and alternatives with respect to resource allocation decisions, and fundamentally a means to achieve a solution to a... Read more »

Ethical public leadership is more than simply following the law. This seminar enhances municipal leaders’ abilities to assess ethically difficult situations and to make ethically defensible choices. Beginning with some fundamental elements of ethical decision making, the seminar draws the audience into active participation to establish the elements of a personal ethical framework and then... Read more »

A course for newly elected officials and those wanting to brush up on building a short-term impact agenda. Come ready to plan, set goals and hit the ground running! Credits: 3 Level: 101 Cost: $185 *NLC University seminars are not included in the standard conference fee. Add seminars to your basket during registration to enroll. Already... Read more »

Whether your city is just getting started on using data or already has compelling examples of impact to share, regularly communicating your progress is a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate your government’s commitment to delivering results and to engage residents, staff, and local thought leaders who can reinforce and expand your efforts. That’s why the best... Read more »

Performance measures are often talked about in cities in varying levels of detail. In this interactive workshop, we’ll walk through how to create effective performance measures, provide examples and discuss key issues associated with strong measures, and help you address challenges as you define your own measures. Throughout the workshop, you’ll have the chance to... Read more »

Does your city struggle to collect taxes, fines, or unpaid bills? Or maybe your city offers an incredible service but faces a challenge in encouraging residents to sign up? Perhaps you want to promote energy or water conservation? Or you want to recruit a diverse group of people into your workforce? Behind each of these... Read more »

Learn to develop your leadership skills in both every day and divisive situations, explore listening with the goal of understanding as an essential part of leadership, and provide an opportunity to practice your skills to plant seeds of leadership and civility in the governing bodies of your communities. Participants will be introduced to The Five... Read more »

The rise of the so-called “gig economy” and independent work more broadly are changing the way people pay their bills, develop their careers, participate in their communities, and plan for economic hardship. In this session, Samaschool, a national expert in independent work, will explain what this shift means for individuals and cities. We will focus... Read more »

Now that you’ve scheduled a meeting with your legislator, what do you do? This session will prepare you to start or continue a strong working relationship with your legislators on Capitol Hill and lobby effectively for cities’ top legislative priorities. Learn more about legislators, develop your own personalized “elevator pitch” on legislative issues, and find... Read more »