Call for Special Districts’ Governance, Professional Presentations

by | Nov 12, 2024 | Events, Membership | 0 comments

The American Association of Special Districts is calling for in-person and online presentations that deliver expert perspectives and professional/governance resources to special districts’ elected and appointed leadership, management, and staff. This is AASD’s first call for presentations to begin its inaugural 2025 program year

Call for Presentations: January-May 2025

AASD is seeking perspectives on thought-provoking, motivating, and emerging topics to America’s special purpose government decisionmakers and stakeholders – preferably covering relevant governance needs, professional development themes, and policy trends geared impacting special districts.

Round One of AASD’s Call for Presentations is open for trusted organizations providing professional services, goods, and technical assistance to local governments – particularly local special district governments – beginning November 12, and closes Friday, December 13, 2024.

Your audience, as a presenter, will include elected and appointed board members of special purpose governments from across the country, general managers and district adminstrators, as well as managing and support staff for special districts.

The AASD Education & Resources Committee will review applications for January-May 2025 Regional Summits and webinars with a priority on six general categories of presentation:

  1. Special District (Board) Governance
  2. Special District Management/Administration & Professional Development
  3. Accounting, Finance, and Grants
  4. Human Resources
  5. Advocacy & Intergovernmental Collaboration
  6. Trending Public Policy Topics

Read below for further details and ideal/preferred topics for each category.

About the AASD Professional Network

AASD’s Professional Network is a prime opportunity for service providers to connect with a broader audience of local government leaders, to deepen their connection with special districts, and is a great fit for those organizations looking to “Grow Together.”

Engagement with AASD’s membership events is included for AASD Professional Networkers as a benefit of membership. AASD Professional Network Members receive first and priority consideration for event engagement.

Join the AASD Professional Network on a limited-time, no-cost trial basis to begin engaging with America’s special districts as we get started. Learn more about membership in 2025 here.

Not an AASD Professional Network Member? No worries! You are still encouraged to submit an presentation application.

AASD Events for Engagement

Submit your interest to present to special districts:

Regional Special District Governance Summits



AASD Southern Summit: New Orleans Area / April 4-5, 2025 (60-minute, in-person presentations)

AASD Mid-America Summit: Springfield, Mo. / April 25, 2025 (60-minute, in-person presentations)

Click here to pitch your presentation for an AASD Regional Summit.

(Pictured at right: Ozarks Special Districts Summit, July 2024)

Governance and Professional Service Webinars

AASD offers two types of webinars:

  • Covering Governance/Transparency Best Practices: 60-, 90-, or 120-minute webinar presentations that convey best practices and understandings of board practices, good governance, transparency, finance administration, accountability and related demands.
  • Addressing policy trends & Professional Needs: 60-, 90-, or 120-minute webinar presentations delivering information to enhance special districts’ processes, staff efficiencies and professional development, management best practices, investment best practices, communications/public relations, and related needs.

Click here to pitch your presentation for an AASD Webinar.

Ideal/Prioritized Topics

AASD will welcome all ideas for presentations that serve the mission of advancing special districts; however, AASD will prioritize consideration of presentations covering the following topics:

Special District Governance

  • Best practices in board meeting administration / Roberts Rules and more.
  • Ethics for elected and appointed special district officials.
  • Management (Board of Directors): Selecting the right district leadership team.
  • Perspectives/Best Practices: Legal counsel needs
  • Strategic planning for special district success.

Professional Development & District Management

  • District Management: Addressing workforce recruitment and retention (employees and volunteers) issues for special districts.
  • The Intersection of District Management and Board Governance: Keys to a Smooth Dynamic for Board Member/District Manager Relations.
  • Navigating community relations and external communications issues (public relations).
  • Standards and best practices for open/transparent (sunshine) governance, public records compliance, human resources basics, good governance ethics.

Human Resources

  • Administering benefits for special district employees: pensions, insurance, and more.
  • Human resources & professional development considerations for special districts in rural communities.
  • Succession planning for district management.
  • Trending human resources topics in local government.

Accounting, District Finance & Grants

  • Approaches to alternative/non-traditional revenue sources for special districts.
  • Audits & Accounting – Best Practices
  • Best practices and perspectives on trending issues in financial management for special districts.
  • Community Project Funding & Congressionally-Directed Spending (earmarks)
  • Grant resources: writing, advocacy, administration, and more.
  • Municipal bond processes, regulations, market trends, legislative and policy outlooks, and market trends.
  • Overcoming challenges to financing small special district capital projects.
  • Topics in local government audits and accounting – Best Practices.
  • Understanding cooperative purchasing and procurement.
  • Understanding and participating in municipal/government investment pools.

Advocacy & Intergovernmental Collaboration

  • Best practices for intergovernmental relations: working with fellow districts, schools, towns, cities, and counties.
  • Building relationships with land planning and zoning agencies for successful community development.
  • Consolidations, Administrative Mergers, and Intergovernmental Agreements
  • Intergovernmental agreements: when they are needed, how to develop, best practices.
  • Intergovernmental Collaboration needs for Conservation Programs
  • Local, state, and federal advocacy needs: beginners – expert level courses in advocacy.
  • State legislative trends on district revenue sources: property taxes, impact fees, and more.
  • Success Stories: Examples of special districts’ success in advocacy at the local and state levels.

Trending Public Policy Topics

  • Climate adaptation and resiliency: planning for disaster & hazard mitigation planning.
  • Cybersecurity Hygiene for Special Districts
  • Complying with online federal Americans with Disabilities Act regulations (2027 and beyond).
  • Enterprise zones, tax increment finance districts and municipal/county tax breaks: Understanding the finance structures and how special districts should address them.
  • Environmental review, permitting, and critical infrastructure: current policies and what is on the horizon.
  • Perspectives/Best Practices: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies
  • PFAS as a Hazardous Substance: What Districts Need to Know
  • Preparing for and Understanding the Financial Data Transparency Act.
  • Safeguarding critical infrastructure.

The AASD Chartered Committee on Education, Resources, and Services will review submissions on a rolling basis. Please check your spam filter for follow up communications.

Contact Cole Arreola-Karr, AASD Executive Director, for questions and more information at cole@americasdistricts.org.