Navigating Change, Leading with Purpose
The 2026 MMANC Annual Conference is September 27–30 at Tenaya Lodge near Yosemite National Park. After years of navigating crisis after crisis, local government professionals deserve more than another conference. This is the reset.
Three days. No downtown distractions. Just you, your peers, and the space to step back, think clearly, and invest in yourself. Every session is built around one test: will the person in the seat walk away with something they can use Monday morning?
Four Tracks, One Journey
This year we’re organizing sessions into four tracks inspired by the Sierra — each designed to meet you where you are in your career.
🦶 Trailhead — For Emerging Leaders
You’re early in the work and building your foundation. Trailhead sessions focus on the skills, relationships, and confidence you need to grow in local government. Every great journey starts where the path begins.
⛰️ Half Dome — For Mid-Career Professionals
You’ve been in the work long enough to know it’s complicated. Half Dome sessions are for leaders who are deepening their expertise, managing teams, and navigating the messy middle of a career in public service.
🧗 El Capitan — For Executives and Directors
You’re leading organizations through uncertainty. El Capitan sessions tackle the challenges that come with the top — organizational resilience, political dynamics, succession, and the weight of decisions that affect entire communities.
🌲 Sequoia — Equity Across Every Level
Equity isn’t a track you visit — it’s woven throughout the conference. Sequoia sessions center diversity, inclusion, and belonging for professionals at every career stage. Deep-rooted and resilient, like its namesake.
Share What You’ve Learned
The Call for Proposals is open March 26 through April 26, 2026. We’re looking for breakout sessions, panels, and keynotes from practitioners who’ve lived the work — people who can walk into a room and share something real.
Proposals are evaluated through a blind scoring process by five independent evaluators. Strong proposals are specific, practical, and grounded in experience. You don’t need to be a polished speaker. You need to have something worth saying.
Tenaya Lodge, Yosemite
Tenaya Lodge sits two miles from Yosemite National Park’s south gate entrance, surrounded by Sierra Nevada forest. It’s not a convention center — and that’s the point.
When you can’t duck out to check email at a downtown restaurant, you’re actually present. The isolation is the strategy. Lodge rooms, suites, and cottages are all on-site. So are the pools, the restaurants, the evening s’mores, and the stargazing. Everything you need to be fully here.
Conference registration and hotel room block details are coming soon.
Stay Connected
Sign up for the MMANC weekly newsletter to get conference updates as they happen. Questions? Reach us at conference@mmanc.org.
“I left the 2023 conference inspired to lead and grateful for all the meaningful relationships I’ve been able to build through MMANC.”
“Very high quality conference – I learned a lot and met a ton of amazing local government professionals!”
“We grew together, learned together and shared. There were technical takeaways and vulnerable moments shared, all ultimately contributing to 3 days of elevating myself and filling my cup.”
“There is something so incredibly special about the community I have found in MMANC. I have made invaluable friendships and connections and I am so thankful for the wonderful people that comprise this organization and the magic that is present when we all gather together.”
“The 2023 conference provided many opportunities to meet new people and to learn both innovative trends to improve cities, but also professional development to bolster resilience.”
“The 2024 sessions were amazing!”
“LOOOOOVEED it as always!”
“Great execution of the conference and the MMANC team were extremely welcoming to all and did a great job facilitating network opportunities.”
“I was very impressed as a first-time attendee!”
