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Christine Cordon, a city manager and executive master of public administration student in the , has received the Ethical Hero Award from the California Local Government Management Collaborative, the California affiliate of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

Cordon serves as city manager of the City of Westminster, California.

Launched in 2012, the Ethical Hero Award recognizes local government leaders who demonstrate integrity, transparency and a steadfast commitment to ethical governance—particularly in challenging circumstances. Cordon is the sixth recipient since the award began in 2012.

The award was presented at the League of California Cities City Manager Conference in early February.

When Cordon stepped into the city manager role, first on an interim basis in 2021, Westminster was confronting a multimillion-dollar deficit, political infighting and years of turnover in the city’s top administrative position. Cordon was the city’s fourth manager in two years.

“I was a familiar face in the organization who had a strong generalist understanding of the city’s issues, politics and priorities; and I was tapped to be the interim city manager, with the understanding that the incoming council would decide what to do about the position after the election,” Cordon says.  “After seven months as the interim city manager, the council offered me the full-time position, effective June 2022, and I have been proudly serving ever since.”

At a time of uncertainty, Cordon became the city’s first Vietnamese American city manager, bringing both her professional experience and a personal connection to a community with a large Vietnamese American population. Previously, she served in a newly established dual role for the city as the city clerk and communications director.

Her leadership has focused on restoring stability, rebuilding public trust and reinforcing strong governance practices, and she has worked to guide the city through budget challenges while maintaining essential services for residents.

Cordon says her decision to pursue an  is directly connected to that work. She began online courses in the fall of 2025 and hopes to complete the degree in May 2027.

“The insight I’ve gained from my professors and while engaging with others in the Maxwell family has really reaffirmed the importance of what I do in my profession to promote transparency, democracy, good governance and stewardship of local government,” she says. “The program will continue to help me evolve as a strategic, reflective leader, and I will gain a solid intellectual foundation from a school with an indisputable reputation for excellence in public administration.”

Cordon, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chapman University, has made an impression on her Maxwell instructors, including Chris Mihm, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs.

“Christine leads her community by navigating the complex and often contentious intersection of policy, politics and administration,” says Mihm. “That takes enormous skill, not only in the technical sense, but also in how to work across organizational boundaries with employees, stakeholders and citizens with different perspectives, expectations and needs.  She provides a road map for the rest of us to emulate.”

Maxwell has maintained a longstanding partnership with the ICMA, a global organization representing more than 13,000 local government leaders. In 2023, Maxwell and ICMA formalized and strengthened that relationship through a memorandum of understanding.

Through joint programming, conference engagement and leadership development initiatives, Maxwell and ICMA collaborate to support current and future city and county managers. For executive M.P.A. students like Cordon, that connection bridges academic preparation and professional practice at the highest levels of the field.

Nell Bartkowiak, assistant dean of online programs, says Cordon’s recognition reflects both her individual leadership and the program’s mission.

“Christine exemplifies the kind of principled, forward-thinking public service leader our executive M.P.A. program is designed to support,” Bartkowiak says. “Our students are experienced professionals who bring real-world challenges into the classroom and immediately apply new insights to their communities. Christine’s recognition by Cal-ICMA is a great example of how ethical leadership and rigorous professional education go hand in hand.”