Q & A with Susan Gooding-Liburd, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Miramar, Florida, and the chair of GFOA's Black Caucus.

• Author: Belarmino, Mike

After only a few minutes of talking with Susan Gooding-Liburd, you feel the energy and personal values that have always informed her career. GFOA's Mike Belarmino talked to Susan, who is the chief financial officer for the City of Miramar, Florida, and the chair of GFOA's Black Caucus, about her path to public finance. She emphasized the importance of constantly challenging yourself and the critical role of giving back to others.

What was your path toward a career in public finance, and when did you become involved with GFOA?

I can talk for a while on this--how long do I have? [laughs] I have worked in government for over 25 years. I got into public finance when I started at a minority-owned auditing firm in Florida around 1996. It was a great experience because we had a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to municipalities. My focus or specialty at the time was the single audit, which I gravitated toward because I was familiar with state government operations, given my previous position as a health and rehabilitative services counselor for the State of Florida. I worked as an auditor at the firm for almost three years, and it just so happened that one of the clients I was working with was the City of Miami, Florida, and they actually recruited me. That was my start in public finance, and I worked in several roles, from chief accountant to assistant budget director.

I was introduced to the Florida Government Finance Officers Association (FGFOA) by my finance director at the City of Miami. Not too long after that introduction, my director encouraged me to pursue the Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO) designation, the professional certification program administered by FGFOA. When I left the City of Miami, I went to the South Florida Regional Planning Council--a special district--where I served as finance director for nearly three years. Following that I moved to the City of Miramar, Florida, where I spent six years as their assistant finance director.

Throughout my work in the public sector, beginning with my position at the City of Miami, a common thread is the time I spent at each government reviewing comprehensive annual financial reports--so I was aware that GFOA had a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Eventually, when I was at Miramar, I had the opportunity to participate on the Special Review Committee. So, I gradually engaged with GFOA throughout the various positions I held in local government. That was important because each new position presented new challenges, and I think taking on new challenges is good for us every now and then. And regularly attending the state and national conferences provided great learning and networking experiences to help me take on those challenges, although I did not immediately start serving on any committees. One thing I haven't done yet is to serve on the GFOA Executive Board--but we'll see if the stars align on that.

Why did you become involved in GFOA's Black Caucus?

When I went to the GFOA annual conference, I regularly attended the Black Caucus business meetings and networking events--I always thought they had great speakers. Around five years ago at the annual business meeting for the Black Caucus, there were some...