The Michigan Municipal League Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the John Barr Leadership Education Scholarship that will cover up to $1,000 each for municipal managers and elected officials to get training to help their communities.
The recipients are:
- Josh Clark, newly elected to the Clare City Commission
- Monica Galloway, Flint city councilmember
Galloway has been on the Flint City Council since 2013. She is looking forward to learning and sharing ideas with colleagues from across Michigan at the 2019 MML Convention in Detroit. Flint is seeing a revitalization, she said, and she wants to bring back strategies and insights from Detroit to fuel the success happening in the place she has called, “home” for over 24 years.
Since the water crisis, Flint has seen an influx of resources to address the many challenges caused by it. “But one day those resources will be gone and we need to know how to prepare for when that happens, just like Detroit had to do when they emerged from bankruptcy,” Galloway said.
And while many know about the water crisis, she said that what people don’t always see is the positive change coming to Flint like the Flint Farmers’ Market, multi-use and mixed-income housing developments, and the restoration of the historic Capitol Theater. This scholarship will allow her to network with local officials from other Michigan communities that have had to manage both financial woes and positive momentum.
Clark has gained a lot of experience over the past eight years as a Clare planning commissioner, the past four as the Planning Commission chairman. When the mayor nominated him to serve the remainder of the term of a vacated seat on the City Commission, he readily accepted.
“I care immensely about my community,” he said, “and wish to be a competent representative and leader for the constituency I serve.”
“Like so very many Michigan municipalities, Clare is facing budgetary challenges,” said Clark. The scholarship will allow him to attend the League’s Core Weekender training at no cost to the City of Clare. This is not just an investment in his future, Clark said, but it’s also an investment in Clare’s future.
About the John Barr Scholarship
The John Barr Leadership Education Scholarship was established in March 2017 with a generous $10,000 investment from MML Foundation Board Member and Ypsilanti City Attorney John Barr. The scholarship was created from his vision to provide local elected and appointed officials with the knowledge and skills they need to lead and govern their communities. Matching donations from MML members, Foundation board members and DTE Energy raised an additional $10,000.
“Training and education are a large part of the key to good government,” Barr said. “The MML and affiliates offer wonderful opportunities for both training and education. My hope is that this scholarship initiative will encourage more public officials to increase their knowledge and understanding of the best practices of local government.”
Five yearly, one-time scholarships of up to $1,000 for nonpartisan training of local elected or appointed officials will be awarded. The training must have a leadership component and practical application to the individual’s role as a public official in municipal government.
Applications for the next round of scholarships will be accepted through Nov. 30, 2019. For more information, including an application form, visit www.mmlfoundation.org/scholarships and click on the John Barr Leadership Education Scholarship.