For her achievements throughout the course of her 20-year career with the City of Arlington, the North Central Texas Council of Governments recently presented Deputy City Manager Jennifer Wichmann with the Linda Keithley Award for Women in Public Management.
The award, which was created in 1986, is given annually to outstanding women in public administration who serve as devoted public servants and exhibit honesty, dignity, poise, devotion, commitment, and dedication. Before taking on the position of director of Management Resources, Wichmann held positions in the Mayor and Council Office, Office of Management and Budget, and Administrative Services after joining the City of Arlington in 2003. The highest-ranking female official in Arlington City government, Jennifer currently oversees more than half of the city’s staff, including Parks and Recreation, Code Compliance, and Police.
“It didn’t take long for Jennifer to be seen as a rising leader within the organization, progressively enlarging her portfolio to eventually become the leader of a broad team responsible for weaving together communications and legislative issues into an understandable, engaging narrative for residents and elected leaders alike,” stated the letter nominating Wichmann for the Linda Keithley Award. “Her results-oriented, quiet leadership style has enabled Jennifer to consistently manage complex projects to bring meaningful change to our community.”
Jennifer earned a dual master’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in social work and public administration and a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
ICMA, Texas Municipal League, Texas City Management Association, North Texas City Management Association, United Way Tarrant County, and Texas Health Resources Arlington Memorial Health Exchange are just a few of the professional associations she belongs to.
