In September 2022, GFOA published a report titled “Meeting Demand for State and Local Public Finance Jobs” (available at gfoa.org/ meeting-demand-public-finance), which recommended new ways of attracting and retaining talent. Wanting to support GFOA’s efforts to attract new talent to the public finance profession, a group of 16 graduate students from the George W. Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics (Romney Institute) at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, found a quiet room and officially began BYU’s first GFOA student chapter on October 21, 2022.

The group includes an array of diverse undergraduate degrees in public policy, economics, communication, and more. A large majority of the current cohort of students are MPA graduate students sharpening their government finance skills in preparation for careers in public service.

The BYU GFOA student chapter has already initiated projects within the community to serve and connect while gaining applicable experience.

• Publication date: June 2023
• Author: Brianna Merling