The California City Management Foundation (CCMF) is pleased to announce that the City of Pomona and the City of Avenal have been selected as the recipients of the second annual Judy L. Kelsey Memorial Fund grants.

The Judy L. Kelsey Memorial Fund offers two $5,000 grants to local governments to fund summer internships. Half the funding for this program comes from the estate of Judy Lyn Kelsey, a longtime California city manager with a passion for uplifting others. At the beginning of her career, Kelsey interned in the City Manager’s Office in the City of San Dimas and participated in a grant program for the Los Angeles Police Department. She saw great value in these experiences and donated part of her estate to enable internships for individuals with a passion for local government. Kelsey’s estate funds one $5,000 grant annually. CCMF matches her gift to provide a second $5,000 grant.

The City of Pomona and the City of Avenal were selected for the 2022 awards based on their detailed plans for meaningful internship programs. 

“The 2022 Judy Kelsey Memorial Fund grant awardees demonstrated a strong commitment to mentoring future public servants while giving back to their community through diverse, and influential projects,” said Fran Mancia, Chair of the CCMF Scholarship Committee. “CCMF is proud to sponsor interns for these cutting-edge programs, in line with our mission for supporting excellence in city management.”

The City of Pomona’s Judy Kelsey intern will assist with in-depth research and analysis on warehouse and industrial uses within a specific area of the City. There is growing interest to address the environmental health impacts and land use compatibility of warehousing in the City as part of the City’s comprehensive zoning code update. When done properly, industrial and warehouse uses can contribute to the economy and consumer welfare. The City’s intern will help assess how many warehouses are needed, the impacts of these uses on infrastructure, and additional high-level strategizing.

The City of Avenal will recruit an intern to bridge the gap between youth and local government. Having never offered an internship program for youth, the City believes now is the best time to grow a culture of involvement and understanding in local government.  The City’s intern will shadow the City Manager and the City Clerk on the day-to-day operations of the City by assisting with clerical work, as well as be assigned a special project to create an outreach plan to fully incorporate the City’s website, social media, and kickstart new text messaging system to improve communications with the public and increase public participation.  The long-term benefit of this internship pilot would be to build out a premier program that local youth will look forward to applying and participating in.  

Please visit the Judy L. Kelsey Memorial Fund webpage for more information and contact jenv@tripepismith.com with any questions.