LANSING — To expand opportunities for women in local government, the Michigan Municipal League developed the Women’s Municipal Leadership Program in 2017 when women made up only 16% of municipal managers.

The program has paid off by increasing both career opportunities and the proportion of women working in local government, boosters say.

Macy Barcheski, the finance director for the Kent County Road Commission, was one of nearly 100 applicants for the program’s first class in 2018 but was not accepted.

In 2022, Barcheski applied a second time and was invited to join 22 other women working in local government.

“I had been keeping an eye on the program since it started,” said Barcheski. “I was excited about the collaboration amongst multiple municipalities.”

“You also have this public and private partnership, with the program being sponsored by local companies. It was appealing to create community,” she said.

The program is free for participants, receiving funding from sponsors. Past sponsors include Morgan Stanley financial advisor Jessica Fitzgerald, the Michigan Municipal Executives, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan Municipal League.

The program is the main initiative of the 16/50 Project, named after the league’s 2017 survey of more than 500 cities and villages the league represents. It found that only 16% of municipal managers were women while 50% of Michigan’s population is female.

The initial program, mostly in-person, lasted only four months, featuring municipal finance, responsibilities and economic development. Nearly two additional months were added to include a session on mock-interviewing.

Assigned to lead the initiative, the league’s member programs manager, Emily Kieliszewski, said, “We asked women in the profession what would have helped them early on in their careers in terms of development.”

Kieliszewski said, “We asked elected officials what topics and skills they want candidates to have when interviewing for a local government position.”

Barcheski said she “learned something from every session. Immediately I was able to bring skills and knowledge into my current role.”

Also in the program’s 2022 alumni class is Brighton City Manager Gretchen Gomolka.

After being promoted to city manager to fill a vacancy, Gomolka sought to complete the program.

Her previous work experience focused on public finance as Meridian Township’s finance director for almost three years before becoming Brighton’s finance director in 2016.

For Gomolka, the program was an opportunity to see if she would be interested in continuing her role as city manager.

“I didn’t know if after doing this interim [position], if this was going to be something I would like to pursue long-term,” said Gomolka.

While looking into the project, she thought “perhaps this program could help me make that decision and help me be prepared, should that be something I wanted to pursue.”

The program also gave Gomolka and Barcheski the opportunity to grow their network of contacts who could potentially be helpful in their work.

“One of the best things I got out of the program was the relationships that I built and the networking of every woman in this cohort,” said Gomolka. “There are several people from my cohort that are now in management positions, and we’ll call each other if we have questions or feedback.”

Barcheski said, “With the community we established, we still email and connect. When somebody changes positions or gets a promotion, we celebrate.”

“Bringing that collaboration into what we do every day as we move all over the state has been awesome,” she said.

According to Kieliszewski, as of September 2024, the league’s most recent survey found the percentage of women in municipal management increased to 22.8%.

“We’ve just completed our sixth program in December 2024 and those participants will graduate during a formal ceremony at our capital conference in March,” said Kieliszewski. The 2024 class included 34 participants.

Beyond the potential benefits for their cities, Gomolka notes that the program empowers some participants to feel ready for more responsibility in government.

“So many women that I’ve met don’t believe they’re ready to take that next step,” said Gomolka.

“It’s a confidence issue. I saw, with many of the participants, that they gained confidence by going through the program and realized they could take that vulnerable step for a position they had thought they weren’t ready for.”