Contact:
Jessica Weirauch
Michigan Municipal League
jweirauch@mml.org, 734-669-6311

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 3, 2025

LANSING, MI – The Michigan Municipal League honored the graduates of the 2024 Women’s Municipal Leadership Program (WMLP) on March 19 at the League’s Capital Conference in Lansing.

The WMLP is the education component of the 16/50 Project, which was launched at Capitol Conference in 2018. Its goal is to empower more women into municipal leadership and to make gender balance a reality for local governments in Michigan. The name of the program refers to the fact that, at the time, women comprised only 16 percent of Michigan municipal managers, despite making up 50 percent of the population.

“Since the program’s launch, the 16/50 Project has trained nearly 170 women through WMLP and helped increase the percentage of women serving as municipal managers in Michigan to more than 23 percent,” said Emily Kieliszewski, Assistant Director, Member Experience and Learning at the League. “This moving of the needle is an outstanding accomplishment and speaks to the success of the program. Our WMLP graduates are women dedicated to leading Michigan communities forward.”

The 2024 graduates are:  

• Kelsey Adkins, Project Manager, Saginaw Charter Township  

• Isabel Allaway, Community & Economic Development Manager/DDA Manager, City of Hamtramck 

• Anne Brown, Senior Field Representative, U.S. House of Representatives 

• Lori Brown, Director of Human Resources, City of Farmington Hills 

• Amy Burton, Assistant City Manager/City Clerk, City of Bloomfield Hills 

• Bhama Cairns, Local Government Finance Professional, Veerakone PLLC 

• Susan Como, Assistant City Administrator, City of Grosse Pointe Woods 

• Tiffany Eddy, Finance Director, Midland County 

• Julie Everly, Director of Human Resources, City of Monroe 

• Kelly Ewalt, Development Director for the City of St. Joseph 

• Esther Fifelski, Director Human Relations Department, City of Holland 

• Tanya Hewitt-Smith, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, City of Kalamazoo 

• Jocelyn Hines, Development Analyst, City of Muskegon 

• Ashley Huey, Office Administrator, Kent County 

• Richelle Jimenez, Treasurer/Assistant City Manager, City of Frankenmuth 

• Sarah Joshi, Deputy Director, Metro Transit 

• Priya King, Finance Director/Treasurer, City of Chelsea  

• Michelle Kurtz, Digital Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Oakland County 

• Kate Litwin, Downtown Development Authority Director, Howell 

• Danielle Mahoney, Assistant City Manager, City of Novi 

• Harley Mordarski, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, City of Madison Heights  

• Leah Moskovitz, Village Clerk, Village of Elk Rapids 

• Kendall O’Connor, Assistant City Attorney, City of Grand Rapids 

• Leslie Owens, Office Manager and Village Clerk, Village of Clinton 

• Breana Parsons, Administrative Services Specialist, City of Eastpointe 

• Marcella Post, Assistant Director of Public Services, City of Midland 

• Breina Pugh, Government & Community Relations Manager, Lansing Board of Water & Light 

• Penny Ray, Treasurer/Finance Director, Village of Milford 

• Lindsey Roark, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, City of Albion 

• Asia Siev, Assistant to the City Manager, City of East Lansing 

• Charlaine Stevenson, Assistant to the City Manager, City of Berkley 

• Heather Toutant, Director of Public Works, City of Harper Woods 

• Kimberly Wise, Human Resources Director, City of South Haven 

• Christina Woods, HR Manager, City of Birmingham 

Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org. 

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