SPOTLIGHTING WOMEN 2024
April 2024
Maureen Barry
President of Chicago WPF
Senior Vice President
Burridge Center for Finance at the University of Colorado Boulder,
Leeds School of Business
Maureen Barry is a Senior Vice President with GovHR USA | MGT, working with public organizations to meet their management resources consulting needs. She has over 30 years of combined experience working for local governments, from both the public and private sectors. Since joining GovHR USA in 2020, Maureen has conducted recruitments for all types of positions, particularly in the areas of Finance and Community/Economic Development, for municipal, county, state and other quasi-public and non-profit organizations in communities throughout the U.S. Midwest, East, and West. Prior to joining GovHR USA in 2020, Maureen spent nearly 13 years as a Municipal/Financial Advisor providing consulting services to local governments on management, finance, and economic development issues. She started her career in the public sector, working directly for three separate municipalities from the city managers’ offices.
What drew you to the public finance industry? How did you get to your current position?
My desire to work with local governments, helping them to provide the services and infrastructure that our communities depend on every day, drew me to the public finance industry. I started my career working directly for cities, three different ones over about 14 years, working from the City Manager’s office and the Finance Department on budgets, bond issues, finance and general management projects. I then moved to the private sector, working as a Municipal Advisor (MA) with local governments on their finance and economic development projects. Right now, I’m in the third phase of my career in public finance, working for a consulting company that offers human resources and management related services to public sector and some related non-profit organizations. Much of my work is focused on director recruitments in finance and community development.
What advice do you wish someone had given you earlier in your career?
Be open to the opportunities that come your way. Things don’t always go the way we planned, but oftentimes the changes are redirecting you to a path that can be equally as fulfilling. When I first started my career, I thought I was destined to be a city manager, and there are still times I dream about doing that in a larger, super cool city. However, I was presented with the opportunity to work with cities as an MA and consultant, which I have found suits me well both personally and professionally.
How can women better support and empower each other in this industry, and what initiatives have you seen or implemented to foster this type of collaboration?
By talking to each other. I love the idea of women talking to other women they admire, both in more formal mentoring programs and also informally. They share and learn about how they were able to achieve success in their career, things they learned along the way (good and bad), and advice for moving forward. These informal mentoring conversations can be enlightening and inspiring, creating connections that can last a lifetime. When I started as a management intern for the City of Glendale, AZ, I was encouraged to meet with all sorts of public managers. As I initiated these conversations, I learned different things from each of them. I found the discussions I had with the women in these leadership roles to be the most inspiring.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
Hiking the Grand Canyon… eight times, no less. Even getting lost one time, which was the scariest day of my life! When I lived in Arizona at the start of my career (an adventure in and of itself), I had the good fortune to find a wonderful group of friends that introduced me to hiking throughout that amazing, beautiful state. Because of those adventurous friends, I continue to hike in new places I visit, which always takes me to new heights.