On Wednesday morning, more than 50 people gathered in the Betty Ford classroom of the Ford School of Public Policy for the seminar “Women Leading Local Government”. The Michigan Municipal League’s 16/50 Project hosted the seminar featuring four women who are leading figures in the state’s municipal government.
Summer Minnick, deputy executive director and chief of staff at the Michigan Municipal League, welcomed the audience and provided a brief history of the 16/50 Project, which began in 2018. The project’s name refers to the percentage of Michigan’s local chief administrative officers who were women. Although Michigan’s population is more than 50% women, only 16% of the state’s municipal managers were women in 2018.Minnick said the name is a reminder of both how much progress has been made, as the number has now increased to 23%, and the work that still needs to be done.
“This effort isn’t just about representation; this is about results,” Minnick said. “Local governments face increasingly complex challenges and they deserve access to the very best leaders to help them succeed. … If you’re leaving half of the population out, you are missing out on some extremely strong candidates to run your local government.”
Mariah Walton, deputy city administrator of Ann Arbor, said she focused on gaining experience throughout her career but quickly realized experience isn’t the only contributor to success.
“Experience is great, but I also realized when it comes to service, local government and serving, it really is where your heart is positioned and if you have that best interest for the community,” Walton said.
Dana Muscott, city manager of Bay City, Mich., said her path was different from Walton’s, as she met with community business leaders during a Detroit Tigers game as a junior in college. By the end of the game, she was offered a job as a Saginaw Township Secretary. She said she worked her way to deputy city clerk before transitioning to Bay City, where she became both the deputy city manager and city clerk.
“Fast forward to 2017, the city manager had left, and I was in the interim position for quite some time, and they offered me a job as city manager,” Muscott said. “That was a big deal for Bay City, because they had never had a woman lead their community. It was a really big deal.”
Minnick concluded the introductions and pointed out a common thread between the four panelists’ different paths to local government: an inner dedication to public service.
“The common thread is that desire, either before or in the process, to serve a community and the public,” Minnick said. “You don’t need to have a finance background, to have a (human resources) background. But getting involved in the local government, if you have that sort of interest in your core, that’s probably enough and then you’ll learn along the way.”
After the talk, each panelist led a smaller group discussion for audience members. The groups talked about different scenarios municipal government leaders may face in their careers and collaborated to come up with solutions for actionable change.
After the breakout session, attendees came back together for an open Q&A with the panelists to conclude the seminar. Melissa Marsh, city manager of Madison Heights, Mich., told the audience it is important to seek mentorship in order to succeed in local government or leadership positions.
“If you’re interested in advancing your career — doing something and let other people know it,” Marsh said. “I hired a young lady to be my executive assistant and immediately started talking to her about, ‘Hey, you know, you’re really bright. You see things that other people don’t see. What are your career goals? What do you want to do?’”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Public Policy graduate student Annie Citron, event attendee, said she participated in the seminar today because of her interest in local government. She said it was meaningful to learn about the different barriers that women face while advancing their careers.
“I don’t think people necessarily think about going into local government or think about the real impacts that it makes in peoples’ daily lives, and I think women are obviously not very represented,” Citron said. “I think representation is really important because (women) have different inputs, and their outlooks can benefit communities.”
Daily Staff Reporter Patricia Leoncio can be reached at pleoncio@umich.edu.
