Leadership Workshops at GFOA's 118th Annual Conference

Finance officers are leaders and leadership requires unique skillsets and competencies. While GFOA's annual conference is an excellent opportunity to engage with subject matter experts and take in over seventy-five sessions related to accounting, budgeting, debt management, treasury, and technology, these workshops provide an opportunity for attendees to engage in focused leadership training. Each workshop is intended to be interactive to allow attendees an opportunity to engage in discussion, exercises, and opportunities for skill refinement.

GFOA's Budgeting Readiness Assessment

Sunday, June 9 | 2:40-4:40 p.m. | 2 CPE | Sunburst Room, W340

Local governments have long relied on last year’s budget to make incremental, line-item changes around the margins to make next year’s budget. Though this form of budgeting has advantages and can be useful in times of stability, it can also make local governments slow to adapt in times of rapid change, like the volatile and uncertain times we live in today. GFOA’s Rethinking Budgeting initiative considers new ways of thinking, new technologies, and updated practices to better meet the changing needs of communities. GFOA has developed a tool to assess your organization’s readiness to rethink budgeting. At this session, you will learn what it means to rethink budgeting, become familiar with the resources GFOA has developed to do so, and learn how to use the assessment tool in your organization.

Equity and Evidence-Based Budgeting

Monday, June 10 | 2:40-4:40 p.m. | 2 CPE | Sunburst Room, W340

Many governments have explored “budgeting for equity,” which, broadly defined, means allocating local government resources in a way that is intended to address unfair disparities between different groups of people, such as racial groups or income groups. However, many also find the practical application much more difficult and nuanced that anticipated. This workshop will help government leaders approach budgeting for equity with concepts from evidence-based budgeting to define and identify program effectiveness and create an environment that leads to an decision-making processes. This session will focus on economic mobility, and attendees will explore examples and strategies for building a budget framework that leads to better and more equitable outcomes for the whole community.

Speakers: Chelsea Powell

Developing Skills to Lead

Tuesday, June 11 | 2:00-4:00 p.m. | 2 CPE | Sunburst Room, W340

To be an effective chief financial officer (CFO), you need more than technical skills and knowledge. You also need to be able to navigate politics, communicate complex information, guide decision-making, and lead teams through times of change, uncertainty, and crisis. At this session, you will hear from a panel of chief executives about what they are looking for in a CFO and other leadership positions in government, including the different types of challenges they expect leaders to be able to manage. You will also learn how to prepare for an interviews, navigate more complex hiring processes, and demonstrate you have what it takes. This session will also allow attendees to practice interviewing skills with your peers.

Speakers: Debby Cherney, Ron Holifield, Merrill King, Doug Thomas