2023 Annual Conference Sessions: Leadership, Ethics, and Trust
Browse by topic:
Sessions for Sunday, May 21
Opening General Session
Hear remarks from GFOA Executive Director Chris Morrill and keynote speaker Eduardo Briceño. Eduardo is one of the world’s leading experts on growth mindset and workplace learning. He will speak to GFOA conference attendees about how to foster a growth mindset—the belief that one’s abilities and qualities can be developed—and about habits and systems that foster growth.
Next Steps on GFOA's DEI Journey
Advancing excellence in government finance is interconnected with GFOA's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). GFOA has long incorporated principles of DEI with both employees and members and had the opportunity over the past year to formally commit to our DEI initiatives. Along with the creation of an executive board committee focused on the topic, addition of DEI to GFOA's bylaws and Code of Ethics, and taking the CEO pledge for diversity and inclusion, GFOA has been active conducting research on how DEI impacts public finance. This session will highlight GFOA's recent research into political polarization, fairness, and behavioral science; present GFOA's strategy for DEI in the future; and provide an opportunity for members to give feedback and comments on where GFOA can be most helpful with future projects.
The Accountability Trap: Why Focusing Too Much on Results Can Backfire and What to Do About It
Local governments are faced with big challenges and are increasingly asked to address hard problems that may require considerable expenditure of public resources. Given the high stakes of the issues at hand, there can be a justifiable interest from elected officials and the public that the government (and its staff) be held “accountable.” This sounds fine in theory, but there are some practical problems with a focus on accountability, especially when projects involve significant complexity, uncertainty, and interdependence. In this session, speakers will explore better solutions to promote "accountability" based on work by psychologist Adam Grant and provide specific implementation strategies.
Annual Black Caucus Business Meeting
The Annual Black Caucus Business Meeting will be used to address the business of the Caucus, including the election of new officers. An update on the activity of the Caucus will also be provided to members. This year’s business meeting will feature two guest speakers. First, will be Jonathan Blasher, Director of Parks and Nature for Oregon Metro to discuss how the organization has worked to implement a $475 million bond measure to improve access to nature, water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, and the region’s climate resilience around principles of racial equity and climate justice. Second, will be Sebrina Owens-Wilson, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director at Oregon Metro. She will discuss how the regional government strives to deliver racial equity outcomes in the Greater Portland Area, focusing on one of their current initiatives, the Construction Career Pathways Regional Framework.
Trust is our Most Valuable Asset: Living the GFOA Code of Ethics
People need to be able to believe what they hear about a local government’s finances. They need to be confident that local leaders have the community’s best interest at heart. If people are to contribute resources to the local government, they need to trust that those resources will be transformed into something of value. At this session, you will hear real-life stories from finance officers of how they've won (or lost) trust through their careers. You will leave with ideas for how you can build trust in your own career.
Sessions for Monday, May 22
General Session
Hear remarks from GFOA President Terri Velasquez, CPA, CPFO and Michael C. Bush. Michael is CEO of Great Place to Work®. Michael will share stories of how the best workplaces outperform their peers and how you can build a winning culture in your organization. Using an inclusive approach to leadership, attendees will learn how to maximize the potential of your team by tapping into the intelligence, skills, and passion of everyone in the organization.
Small Government Forum - Networking Event
GFOA's Small Government Forum provides an opportunity for members of small governments to network and exchange information on topics unique to the demands of managing a small government. In this session, a panel of speakers will discuss unique challenges that small governments face with recruiting, cross training employees, and individuals taking on multiple roles in an increasingly complex public finance environment. Created in 2015, the Forum is currently open to GFOA members in small jurisdictions from the United States and Canada with populations of 25,000 or less, or with employee counts of 500 or less.
Case Studies in Collaboration: Financial Leadership in Action
Collaboration and leadership come in many different sizes and styles. While there may not be a single best practice for leadership, numerous GFOA members have demonstrated the power of their approach in their organization, and the results they are able to achieve for their community. In this session, speakers will explain not only why their unique style to collaboration and leadership works, but will share their journey to this point including lessons learned along the way.
3-2-1 – Liftoff: Launch of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus
Thanks to the efforts of the members of GFOA's LGBTQIA+ task force, GFOA will be launching a new affinity group for LGBTQIA+ members. This session will be the first official meeting of the group. We will discuss the process that led to the group's formation, review bylaws, elect officers, and hear from members of the task force. We encourage all members of the community and allies to attend and make themselves heard.
Surface Tension: Fairness and Water Billing
Water is a basic human need, and there will always be tension between ensuring that everyone in a community has access to it and that residents are paying their "fair share" for it. The tension increases when we recognize that people have different definitions of fairness. This session will explore new models for water billing that can help local governments balance the need for adequate revenue to support their water system with the need to ensure access to water for lower-income residents.
Growth of the Hispanic Finance Officer: Introduction to GFOA's Partnership with LGHN
The Local Government Hispanic Network (LGHN) and GFOA both have missions to provide leadership, education, resources, and other services to support local governments and their employees. Collaboration between the two organizations can provide opportunities to share member benefits and work together on important initiatives to develop both the technical and leadership skills of Hispanic/Latino finance officers and expand their networks. Attend this networking session to learn more about this new partnership and meet members from both LGHN and GFOA.
Leadership Workshop – Common Sense Improvements to the Budget Process
The budget process is often referred to as the most consequential in government. However, many staff in government find the steps that organizations go through to create the budget as time consuming, confusing, and outdated. Worse, many approach the process as an experience to survive missing out on great opportunities to innovate and collaborate. Fortunately, there is a better way and all finance officers can learn simple strategies for process improvement that can be applied to their budget process. In this session, join Brian Elms in an interactive workshop to break down key components of the budget process and apply proven process improvement strategies to eliminate waste, achieve better outcomes, and become a leader (and hero) in your organization.
Interactive leadership workshops are limited to 250 individuals per workshop and requires pre-registration.
Bridging the Divide: Conflict Resolution in Public Finance
Public finance often involves conflict. Conflict can actually be good if it leads to discussion and participation from diverse stakeholders. However, it can also be common that when resources are scarce, tensions can run high, especially in our increasingly polarized society. Public finance officers must have a means for addressing conflict, quickly and effectively. At this session, we will discuss two very different methods of conflict resolution that GFOA has field-tested over the past year. You will come away with practical, actionable ideas for how you can address conflicts in your own organization.
Separate but Together: The Role and Benefits from GFOA's Network of State and Provincial Associations
GFOA does not act alone in working to advance excellence in government finance. While each exists as a separate organization, the state, provincial, and regional GFOA associations support public finance issues below the national or international level and provide critical support to members and excellent opportunities for education classes, networking events, and leadership positions. In this session, speakers will discuss the role of GFOA's more than fifty association partners and what members can expect in the future as we work together to enhance member benefits.
Sessions for Tuesday, May 23
General Session & Annual Business Meeting
Hear remarks from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, and Incoming GFOA President Laura Allen, CPFO, ICMA-CM. GFOA President Terri Velasquez, CPA, CPFO will preside over the session. Erica Dhawan will deliver the keynote address. Erica is an internationally recognized leading authority, speaker and advisor on 21st century teamwork, collaboration and innovation. Erica will share innovative strategies to unlock the collective power of teams, build a culture of trust across any distance that finance officers can use with peers, co-workers, and members of the public.
Community for Canadian Issues
As Canadian governments work to confront workforce, revenue, and expenditure challenges in today's new fiscal environment, GFOA is working to build a stronger network of Canadian finance officers to share best practices, develop relationships, trade stories and experiences, and learn from each other’s collective knowledge. In this session, leading Canadian finance officers will discuss the challenges faced by their jurisdiction and the approaches to overcome them. In addition, attend to hear about plans for GFOA's new Community for Canadian Issues and learn how you can become more involved.
Note: Immediately following this session, GFOA will be hosting a lunch discussion/networking event for Canadian GFOA members
Leadership Workshop: Leaders, We've Got This! Unlocking Belonging in Organizations
Many team members feel constant pressure to mask and curate who they are at work—to perform as someone they're not rather than be who we are. And it strikes at their ability to belong. But, as leaders, by cultivating psychological safety, trust, inclusion, and creativity in how we work, we can unlock belonging in our organizations for everyone. In this practical, research-driven session, award-winning speaker and author Ritu Bhasin will uncover the key pillars for unlocking belonging in your organization as a leader, how to leverage the Three Selves Framework™ in how you lead and manage teams and stakeholders, how to create cultures that are rooted in belonging, psychological safety, trust, inclusion, innovation, and empowerment, and leadership strategies for fostering empathy, authenticity, and trust.
This session required pre-registration.
Leadership Workshop: Leading With Authentic Confidence
Over-confidence is repelling and under-confidence stalls progress. Both can be toxic and difficult to address. In this session, learn how to find, coach, and communicate with Authentic Confidence. This type of confidence attracts talent, teamwork, and the results you deserve in your career. Attend this session to listen to author and coach Ben Fauske as he shares lessons learned from real-world experiences coaching thousands of leaders. You will walk away with a concrete plan for how to be more confident in every area of your career and li
This session required pre-registration.
I Just Want You to Know Who I Am: Why I Became A Finance Officer
There is no single path to becoming a finance officer. GFOA's nearly 23,000 members have just as many different motivations, stories, and journeys for how they got to this point in their career. However, they all now share the responsibility for maintaining trust, supporting their community, and working to build sustainable organizations in spite of increasing pressure from political polarization, workforce challenges, and overall distrust of government. During this session, hear from several finance officers about their career journey, how their experience puts them in a position to deal with current challenges, and what drives their dedication to the profession.
Finance on Fire: Overcoming Issues with Budgeting for Fire Services
Ever feel like you and your colleagues in the Fire Department just aren't speaking the same language? If so, you're not alone, and this session is for you. GFOA and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) are working together to develop resources to promote better collaboration between finance officers and fire chiefs. This panel discussion will feature both finance officers and fire personnel talking about how to improve communication between these two departments and address the many challenges that make capital planning, budgeting, purchasing, and other areas of public finance uniquely difficult for the fire service.
From Theory to Practice: Applying Basics in Economics to Public Finance
Most government finance leaders are keenly aware of the impact regional, national, and even international economic factors have on their community. Understanding those factors and applying basic principles of economics can help finance officers make decisions related to budgeting, capital planning, economic development, investing, and more. This session will explore the skills used in government finance that draw from the economics profession and consider how deeper expertise in these areas could strengthen the government finance office.
Sessions for Wednesday, May 24
Easier Said than Done: Attracting and Retaining Public Finance Talent in the New World of Work
As outlined in Meeting Demand for State and Local Public Finance Jobs, a report released in Fall 2022 by GFOA and Lightcast, demand for state and local public finance officers is outstripping the current supply of workers in our sector. To address this phenomenon, governments need to adapt and find creative ways to attract new workers and retain existing ones. At this session, hear from local government leaders about what they are doing to address this problem and get some ideas to try in your own organization.
