Supporting the ICMA Student Chapter

While the annual ICMA national conference serves as an invaluable resource for current and aspiring public service leaders, the cost to attend can be prohibitive for many graduate students. In 2019, a group of UNC MPA students devised a plan to bridge the gap.

The program’s ICMA student chapter reached out to the School of Government Advancement Office to look for ways to support their travel and accommodations at the upcoming national conference in Nashville.

The Advancement Office, working closely with the MPA program, reached out to UNC MPA alumni who were known to attend the conference. The response was immediate with nearly $3,000 raised in support of students hoping to attend. The generosity of these individual alumni donors—combined with support from the Public Service Enrichment Endowment—enabled all 12 members of the student chapter to travel to and stay in Nashville for the conference.

In thanking the donors, the students wrote, “It was a unique learning and networking opportunity. Every one of us returned with a variety of initiatives we hope to implement once we start our careers. … Thank you again to everyone who made it possible to push the careers of Carolina MPA students forward. Go Heels!”

Read their thank you message in the Winter 2020 issue of IMPACT.