By Justin Breyer
The NextGen Committee has hit the ground running in 2020, with the new year offering a wealth of excitement and promise. The committee has a great group of members from across the state – from Grand Haven to Grosse Pointe Park and from Tecumseh to Cedar Springs. I would like to thank the 2020 NextGen Committee members for their willingness to volunteer to help this committee meet MME’s goals and objectives.
I hope that those who attended the Winter Institute in Gaylord had a great week and learned a lot. For those unable to make it, I hope that it was a fun project that will make a big splash in your community that kept you from attending. During the Winter Institute, the NextGen Dinner event hit the registration cap, and it showed in the event’s attendance. The event offered a fantastic networking opportunity for professionals serving in their first manager or assistant role, serving as interns, or working their way through their master’s programs. Looking ahead to the 2020 Summer Workshop in Frankenmuth, the NextGen Committee is excited to work with the Professional Development Committee to assist in planning another great batch of events and networking opportunities.
There are a number of other upcoming projects and ideas that the Committee is excited to explore and share with the organization in the next few months. The committee is working to plan Spring and Fall Professional Development Days, which will be held at different universities across the state. This will be one aspect of a larger committee effort to maintain consistent communication and grow outreach efforts with Michigan’s various universities. In this vein is a concerted effort to have a NextGen presence at university networking events, career fairs, panels, or education days hosted by MPA, Bachelors of Administration, or other similar programs. Further, if you meet a student that is interested in the profession, please either pass along their contact information or encourage them to reach out to someone on the committee so that we can talk to them about NextGen programs and encourage them to attend our professional development and networking events.
The committee will soon be soliciting for communities to participate in the 2020 – 2021 MME Fellowship program. The Fellowship program will seek to match students interested in local government management with host communities. MME and the student’s participating university will participate in funding each fellowship position. Please keep an eye out for notices and communication from the committee on our various projects.
While the NextGen Committee is committed to recruiting into the profession and training local government administrators who are in the early stages of their career, we would like to reiterate that MME members at all stages in their career are welcome and encouraged to attend and participate in NextGen events. We look forward to seeing you at a NextGen event this year!
Justin Breyer
Chair, NextGen Committee
City Clerk and Assistant to the City Manager, Dexter