Connect 351 2027 Exhibitor List

Clarence Anthony has been the NLC’s executive director since 2013. He previously served for 24 years as the mayor of South Bay, Florida, having been first elected at the age of 24. He became president of the Florida League of Cities in 1995, and of the NLC in 1999. He was also part of the founding group of Palm Beach County Black Elected Officials and Discover Palm Beach County, the tourism development council. He served as first vice president of the International Union of Local Authorities. Following his time as mayor, Anthony represented local governments as founding treasurer and interim manager of United Cities and Local Governments. He later founded Anthony Government Solutions, a firm focused on strategic visioning, policy development and management restructuring for government and private sector organizations. Anthony has a master’s degree in public administration, with a specialization in city growth management policy, from Florida Atlantic University. In 2020, he received the National Forum for Black Public Administrators Marks of Excellence Award.

Marc Ott has been leading the ICMA for the past six years. Previously, he served for almost nine years as city manager of Austin, Texas; six years as assistant city manager in Fort Worth, Texas; four years as city administrator in Rochester Hills, Michigan; seven years as assistant city manager, deputy city manager and then city manager in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and eight years in leadership and support roles in Grand Rapids and in Jackson, Michigan. Ott has a bachelor’s degree in management, with a concentration in economics, and a master’s degree in public administration, both from Oakland University in Michigan. He has also completed the Senior Executives Program in State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Ott has won numerous awards for his service, including the ICMA’s Award for Career Excellence. The National Forum for Black Public Administrators has honored him with a Marks of Excellence Award and its 2020 Hall of Fame Award.

Tami Pyfer has experienced the challenges and rewards of public service at many levels — from PTA president to Utah state education board member, and from city councillor to gubernatorial advisor, with steps in between. Now a nonprofit leader and USA Today’s 2025 Woman of the Year for the state of Utah, Pyfer will share her insights as the keynote speaker at the Women Elected Municipal Officials Leadership Luncheon during the MMA’s Connect 351 conference on Jan. 23 in Boston. Pyfer is the chief external affairs officer for UNITE and the co-creator of the nonprofit’s Dignity Index, a tool that measures political speech along an eight-point continuum from contempt to dignity.

Drawing from his travels around Massachusetts, Emmy-winning journalist and television host Anthony Everett will help members celebrate the Bay State on Jan. 20, 2023, as the Friday evening speaker at the MMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show. Everett has hosted WCVB Channel 5’s “Chronicle,” the nation’s longest-running, locally produced newsmagazine, for 17 years. On the show, Everett explores the “Main Streets and Back Roads” of the region, serving as part storyteller and part ambassador for its best offerings. From patrolling the Nantucket coast in a boat with the town’s harbormaster to exploring a haunted covered bridge in Greenfield, Everett provides viewers with vicarious experiences of the hidden and not-so-hidden gems of Massachusetts. “As we travel the 351 cities and towns of the Commonwealth, I am constantly amazed how many incredible stories each one holds,” he said. “It really is a testament to the ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness and inventiveness of the people of Massachusetts, and it is one of the main reasons ‘Chronicle’ [celebrated] its 40th year on the air in 2022. Having the chance to visit their communities and tell their stories is a privilege.” A native of New York City, Everett first appreciated the charms of Massachusetts as a student at Tufts University. But his broadcasting career first took him on a detour through two other states. In 1984, he started out as a sports reporter and anchor at KSPN-TV in Aspen, Colorado, ultimately becoming the station’s news director before leaving in 1987. He then spent a few years as a general assignment reporter and weekday anchor on the evening and nighttime newscasts at WVIT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. Everett joined WCVB’s NewsCenter 5 in 1990 as a general assignment reporter. Over the years, he has co-anchored midday, evening and 11 p.m. newscasts, served as WCVB’s senior correspondent for national events and breaking news, and regularly contributed to special news reports. He has won multiple Emmy Awards, including for his work on “Chronicle,” for reporting on subjects including education, Alzheimer’s disease and the recycling industry, and for hosting special programs, including one for the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops. Everett’s reporting has also earned him National Headliner Awards, an Associated Press Award for Investigative Reporting and Documentary Reporting in 2012, and helped WCVB win an Edward Murrow Award for News Series and News Documentary in 2013. Everett also devotes time to charitable causes, including as a volunteer and board member for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, for which he received a 1992 Public Education Award and a 2006 Partners in Progress Award. He has been involved with Habitat for Humanity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, the Boston Ballet, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Home for Little Wanderers, and Derby Academy. Everett has taught journalism and been a guest lecturer at Tufts, and has lectured at Boston College, Harvard Business School, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and other educational and community groups throughout New England.

Renowned futurist Mike Walsh explores how AI-driven agents capable of independent decision-making will redefine work, leadership, and innovation. Drawing on cutting-edge research and real-world case studies, he paints a bold picture of firms operating as networks of billions of AI agents, solving problems at unimaginable speed and scale.