Gfoat News

A Final Message from the 2025-2026 GFOAT President

Hello Finance Professionals,

Serving as your president this past year has been one of the great privileges of my career. Thank you for the trust you placed in me, and thank you for the work you do every day that keeps Texas communities running well. Balanced budgets, clean audits, well-developed capital improvement plans, these things don’t happen by accident. They happen because of the quiet, steady excellence you bring to this profession, day after day.

One of my goals this year was to build a formal mentorship program for our profession. That work is underway. The GFOAT Board and I are still shaping what it will look like, and I’m looking forward to seeing it come to life in the year ahead. In full disclosure, we simply aren’t there yet. Some of the best things worth building take a little longer to get right.

And honestly, that program was never really the point but rather the mechanism. It was always meant to be a spark for something you can start doing tomorrow. Keep growing. Keep sharpening your own skills, and keep pulling others up behind you. Take the new team member under your wing. Sponsor the CGFO candidate on your team. Say yes to the committee assignment you’re not sure you’re ready for yet. This organization is full of people who did exactly that for me, and it’s the best tradition we have.

I leave this role energized about where our profession is headed, and grateful beyond words to have spent this year serving alongside the best finance professionals in the country. Thank you for everything you do, and for everything you’re about to do next.

In continued service,

Blu Kostelich

Past President, Government Finance Officers Association of Texas

Assistant City Manager & Chief Financial Officer, City of Waco