Sunday Keynote: Evan Osnos

Sunday Keynote: Evan Osnos

GFOA is pleased to announce Evan Osnos as the keynote speaker for the General Session on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at GFOA's 120th Annual Conference.

Evan Osnos is a National Book Award-winning author and staff writer at The New Yorker, a host of its flagship podcast, The Political Scene, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Osnos provides assessments on the biggest stories of the day including global affairs, polarization of civic institutions, and implications of the AI revolution. He has authored four best-selling books including Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury; Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China; and The Haves and Have-Yachts. Beginning his career at the Chicago Tribune, he shared the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 and 2008. 

In his presentation, Osnos will explore how we learn to trust again. In one place after another, we’ve lost faith in our neighbors, our institutions—and, increasingly, in the words and images that fill our screens. But just as stories can tear us apart, they can also stitch us back together and rebuild civic dialogue and engagement. Providing tools that focus on meaning and not the latest gadgets, he will show the impact of public service, the importance of local media, and how finance professionals can help strengthen faith in one another and restore confidence in our shared ability to tackle hard problems together.