Manitoba Municipal Administrators (MMA) will host its inaugural Leadership Summit, entitled Empowering Municipal Administrators for Tomorrow, on Friday, April 26, 2024 at Brandon’s Victoria Inn. Registration is open and all are welcome to join the 150 MMA members already registered for the event.

“We look forward to hosting this Leadership Summit on an annual basis as we continue to develop new and exciting professional development programs for municipal administrators,” says Duane Nicol, President of MMA and CAO, City of Selkirk. “For this, the inaugural event, we are pleased to share that Manitoba’s Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Anita Neville who will formally open the event and will be making a special announcement.”

The 2024 Leadership Summit welcomes keynote speaker Sara Thiele who was recently appointed as clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary, deputy minister to the premier and head of the public service. Thiele has over 17 years of experience as a leader at the national, provincial and community level. Prior to her current position, she served as deputy minister for transportation and infrastructure as well as Manitoba’s Emergency Management Organization. Thiele holds a masters degree in political science from McGill University.

Additional speakers include Dr. Enoch A-iyeh who will explore the ethical use of artificial intelligence in municipal offices. Renowned Canadian podcaster, Chris Brown, will lead an audience-interactive peer panel (including CAOs Mike Jack of Winnipeg and Ron Bowles of Brandon) on how administrators can navigate the political environment to support good governance, long-term thinking, vision setting, and making better decisions.

Over the past 93 years, since the MMA was created, local governments have become more complex. As expectations rise for elected officials in municipal government, so too do the role of administrators that work alongside them. To help them meet and navigate the challenges the MMA will be presenting a new competency framework which will guide the training and development of the profession. These standards establish clear guidelines for behaviour and provide a framework for decision-making which helps to contribute to the credibility and trust of the profession.

Visit municpaladministrators.ca for more information and to register for the summit.