ICMA Recognizes Livingston County for Success of Rural Anti-Poverty Plan

Livingston County will be honored by ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, as the recipient of the organization’s Community Equity & Inclusion Award. The award celebrates the achievements of Thrive Livingston, the County’s Rural Anti-Poverty Plan.

ICMA’s Community Equity and Inclusion Awards recognize communities for organizational achievements building or celebrating diversity and inclusiveness. Livingston County created the anti-poverty Thrive Livingston plan in 2017 as a strategy to focus on combatting social, cultural, economic, and environmental challenges facing residents of its rural community. The plan is built on several pillars, including: addressing the need for affordable housing, building a solid employment base through job creation and training, reducing transportation barriers, creating long-term, sustainable economic development, and considering the impact of poverty on quality of life, said Livingston County Administrator Ian M. Coyle.

“County government should always be working for the needs of all,” Coyle stated. “We’re incredibly proud of the actions we’ve taken here in Livingston County to ensure no disadvantaged people or communities are left behind. It feels great to be recognized for the work we’ve done, however, we’re not going to stop and rest on our laurels. We’ll continue working to develop creative solutions to the challenges posed by poverty in rural areas.”

Coyle said Thrive Livingston has been successful thanks in large part to dedicated County leaders who have responded to community needs and promoted social cohesion and better integration of disadvantaged and underrepresented populations for the benefit of the entire community.

The ICMA Local Government Excellence Awards Program highlights creative contributions to professional local government management while demonstrating the difference that effective and committed management makes to the quality of life in local communities. ICMA’s program awards are presented to local governments and their chief administrators in recognition of their innovative and successful programs. Nominations are evaluated by an independent, 13-person panel of ICMA members. In addition to in-person and virtual conference recognition, the 2022 ICMA award recipients will be highlighted in the October 2022 issue of Public Manament magazine.