Monica Flower, manager of Tilden Township, Berks County, recently graduated from the Pennsylvania Municipal Government Academy (PMGA), a leadership and municipal education program of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS).
The 2024 class of PMGA graduates received diplomas and certificates of completion April 15 during the association’s Annual Educational Conference in Hershey.
“PSATS launched the Municipal Government Academy several years ago to give township officials and staff a leg up on performing their duties,” PSATS Executive Director David Sanko said. “In the academy, education in leadership and communication skills overlaps the training in four technical categories: administration, planning and zoning, public safety, and public works.”
PMGA participants earn points by attending classroom and virtual workshops and webinars and other PSATS educational opportunities, such as the Annual Educational Conference, Human Resources and Labor Management Institute, Boot Camp for Township Officials, and Grassroots Advocacy Day.
In this year’s graduating class, six individuals, including Flower, completed the diploma program by earning 60 points from across the four categories. Seven individuals completed the certificate program by earning 30 points in the administration or planning categories.
PSATS structured the academy to give participants practical information they can use in their positions.
“We didn’t want to just have courses on abstract local governance topics,” Sanko says. “We wanted to make sure that students came out with useful strategies and techniques to help them do their jobs better and more efficiently. That’s our ultimate goal.”
For more information about the Pennsylvania Municipal Government Academy, go to pmga.psats.org.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors represents Pennsylvania’s 1,454 townships of the second class and is committed to preserving and strengthening township government and securing greater visibility and involvement for townships in the state and federal political arenas. Townships of the second class represent more residents ― 5.7 million Pennsylvanians ― than any other type of political subdivision in the commonwealth.
