Heartland Certified Public Manager® Annual Conference

Reflections on the 2026 Heartland CPM Conference 

For two days in September, the Heartland Certified Public Manager® community came together for one of our largest and most dynamic conferences yet. Nine current CPM cohorts joined a wealth of program alumni from across Kansas and Missouri to learn, reconnect, and tackle one of the defining challenges facing public service today: rebuilding trust. 

Held September 9 & 10, this year’s Heartland Certified Public Manager® Conference centered on the theme Communication as Infrastructure: Rebuilding Trust in a Fragmented World. Public managers are doing their work in extraordinary times. Information networks have never been more diffused. Technology is evolving so quickly that people aren’t certain they can trust what they see or hear. Incivility is on the rise. Trust in government at all levels shows signs of decline.  

We saw a need to come together around two essential skills: telling the stories of public service more effectively and listening to and learning from those we serve—and those we serve alongside. Both are critical to rebuilding trust within our organizations and throughout our communities. 

Where Practice and Research Meet 

Every year, the Heartland CPM Conference brings together the expertise of practitioners and academics, connecting real-world experience with research-informed strategies that participants can put to work immediately and over the long term. 

A hallmark of this year’s conference was the intentional pairing of accomplished public-sector practitioners with KU academic experts—giving participants both hard-won lessons from leaders doing the work and evidence-based approaches they could take back to their organizations. 

The first morning began with Penny Postoak Ferguson, County Manager for Johnson County, Kansas, who shared lessons on effective collaboration and communication from her experience leading the County through the pandemic and preparations for the World Cup. Her emphasis on the importance of cohesive messaging provided a natural bridge to a panel of three faculty members from KU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professors Vaibhav Diwanji, Alex Treaster, and Matt Tidwell. The panel explored strategies organizations can use to listen, engage, and gather meaningful feedback through social media—even amid the growing challenges of AI distortion and incivility. 

Day Two continued the practitioner-academic pairing with Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard, who focused on the work of building trust from within an organization. She challenged attendees not to allow silence to take over when there is an “elephant in the room,” underscoring the role courageous communication plays in healthy organizations. Her keynote was followed by Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson, KU associate vice provost for community impact and professor of applied behavioral science, who explored collaboration as a form of civic and organizational infrastructure—one sustained through communication, trust, mutual relationships, and meaningful community engagement. 

Learning from—and with—One Another 

The exchange of knowledge extended far beyond the keynote stage. Participants chose from four rounds of practitioner-led breakout sessions, heard CPM alumni share lessons and insights from their capstone projects, and participated in full-group application sessions designed to turn conference ideas into action. 

This year also brought our largest-ever response to the call for breakout session proposals—a reflection of both the depth of expertise within the CPM community and its commitment to learning from one another. 

That combination of practitioner experience, academic expertise, peer learning, and an engaged alumni network is what makes the Heartland CPM Conference—and the Certified Public Manager® program itself—such a valuable professional community for public servants across the region. 

Join Us in 2027 | Save the date: September 15 & 16, 2027, in Lawrence, Kansas. 

We look forward to bringing the CPM community together again for two days of learning, connection, and practical ideas for strengthening public service. Join us next year and be part of a growing community of public managers committed to leading better, serving better, and strengthening public trust.