Vermont’s youngest Town Administrator credits ICMA’s LGMF program for path to early career success

Twenty-one years ago, ICMA created the Local Government Management Fellowship to support the next generation of local government professionals by placing them in full-time, paid positions, providing early career experience and networking opportunities to recent MPA/MPP graduates. Since 2004, the LGMF program has over 425 alumni, with more than 35 who have taken on chief or assistant chief administrative officer roles, including most recently Fredi Hayes, the newly appointed town administrator of Highgate, Vermont.

Hayes's journey to becoming the youngest active town administrator in Vermont at 23 years of age began with ICMA. In her freshman year of college, she was invited to help start a new club on campus-the University of Arkansas ICMA Student Chapter. Through her involvement with ICMA as a student, Hayes was introduced to a career path she otherwise would not have discovered. Her first conference was the spring 2019 Arkansas City Manager's Association conference in Hot Springs, where she met local government leaders she still considers mentors and friends to this day, including Philip Patterson, Bill Borough, Lance Spicer, Keith Macedo, and many others. This conference launched Hayes headfirst into exploring what she wanted to do with her life.

After obtaining her undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas, Hayes pursued an MPA from UARK, which proved pivotal, as her attendance at subsequent ICMA conferences introduced her to Kari Pallas, Matt Whitmoyer, and Audrey Ables-LGMF Fellows at the time. This introduction to the fellowship provided Hayes with a clear path toward a post-graduate career about which she had previously felt uncertain.

Growing up in Arlington, Texas, Hayes never imagined that one day she would find herself working in Vermont. However, due to the structure of the LGMF program, which identifies hosts for fellows (in communities generally with ICMA membership) across the United States, she was able to interview with various organizations across the country. This experience demonstrated that while communications, public engagement, and community development were her particular interest points, the best use of the program would be to gain as broad a spectrum of education as possible. So when her interview with Shelburne, Vermont, resulted in an offer, Hayes spoke with her roommate at the time-who had gone to Tufts for undergrad-and she decided why not.

"[LGMF] is meant to send you on your way, and it did exactly that."

-Fredi on finding employment with Highgate after her LGMF fellowship with Shelburne, Vermont, concluded in May 2025.

The wide range of responsibilities she was given in Shelburne, paired with the natural beauty and different type of peace and quiet that Vermont has to offer, gave Hayes a sense of belonging and purpose she had not expected. In an interview on Northwest Access TV's program "For the Record" in July 2025, Hayes credited her LGMF experience in Shelburne with preparing her to serve as Highgate's town administrator. "One never knows what can happen on any given day in local government management," Hayes elaborated, talking about her first official day on the job, which consisted of a dam failure. Seeing opportunity despite pressing challenges, she used the emergency to become more inundated with Highgate as it moves along the road to recovery-a mantra that she credits LGMF for instilling in her.

Fredi Hayes is just one of many exemplary local government professionals that got their start through the LGMF program. All it takes to apply for the fellowship is to be a recent MPA/MPP graduate from a NASPAA-accredited university, without any significant early career experience working for a local government. Applications for the 2026-2027 are open September 26-December 19. Learn more about the LGMF program or email [email protected] for more information. View the full interview with Fredi Hayes.