Now 25,000 members strong, financially secure and long blessed with thoughtful leadership, the Government Finance Officers Association is poised to address the challenges to come for those who manage the public purse.
For most people, the inner workings of government finance are about as interesting as their dishwasher’s owner’s manual. But it’s safe to say that none of the various national associations of public service professionals has had a broader impact on a core function of society — the nurturing and protection of the public purse — than the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Getting the money right enables everything else.
Long recognized as a powerhouse of professionalism, as GFOA advances well into its second century its leaders are moving with admirable determination to position it for the challenges to come, not least of them the impact of artificial intelligence on everything from budgets and staffing to financial reporting and pension operations.
Founded in 1906 in Chicago as the National Association of Comptrollers and Accounting Officers, then in the early 1930s renamed the Municipal Finance Officers Association, in 1984 it rebranded itself with its current title. GFOA’s membership includes U.S. and Canadian public finance professionals, most of them from local governments and agencies but also including state and provincial financiers. It’s a nonpartisan organization with a lean and skilled staff operating in Chicago and a legislative office in Washington, D.C.
governing.com
OPINION | June 24, 2025 • Girard Miller