For WizardKim-VDPR1

Week 8 Video Discussion Post 1st Response:

Instructions: Respond to the post below from your fellow classmate. Any opinions, or anything you would like to add to discuss about their post. Must be three substantial paragraphs, and three references.

This week, I watched a few videos before choosing the one I wanted to discuss. My choice was based on the importance of knowing an organization through the experience of its members. 

In the video selected by me, Lisa Parker (Senior Project Manager), and Paulina Haro (Supervising Project Manager), talk about what keeps them at the GASB and why it's such a unique place to work. 

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the independent, private-sector organization based in Norwalk, Connecticut, that establishes accounting and financial reporting standards for U.S. state and local governments that follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The GASB develops and issues accounting standards through a transparent and inclusive process intended to promote financial reporting that provides useful information to taxpayers, public officials, investors, and others who use financial reports. (GASB.org) 

Lisa Parker joined the GASB staff in 2008. Lisa attended Boston College and the University of Southern Maine graduating with magna cum laude honors and a bachelor’s degree in accounting.  She is a certified public accountant and a chartered global management accountant. She also is a member of the Association of Governmental Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants, where she served as president. Previously, Lisa was the president of the Maine Governmental Finance Officers Association, an executive board member of the New England Governmental Finance Officers Association, and a member of a national GFOA standing committee. Prior to joining the GASB, Lisa worked for Runyon Kersteen Ouellette CPAs for 10 years, the town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine as finance director and interim town manager for 2 years, and the city of Saco, Maine as finance director for 8 years. 

Paulina Haro joined the GASB staff in 2014. Paulina received a bachelor's degree in business administration-accounting with Summa Cum Laude honors from Campbell University. She also holds a master's in business administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of North Carolina. She worked as Financial Analyst, Cash Manager, and subsequently as Treasurer for the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and CIP Fiscal Manager for the City of Raleigh. 

In the video, Lia Parker explains that there are basically three things that have kept her at the GASB for almost 12 years. The first one is in the challenging nature of the work that they do there. The second one is the brilliant minds that she gets to work with, collaborate with, and learn from each and every day. And the third one is that her job provides her the opportunity to be in the field with stakeholders, whether it is through speeches or due process efforts, and she really enjoys that. 

For her part, Paulina Haro expresses that what has kept her at the GASB is, fundamentally, the conceptual thinking of the projects. There is always a very special moment which she calls the eureka moment, in which all the things that they are working on in a project come together. All the pre-agenda research, all the work with the Board, all the stakeholder outreach, all the user financial information that they consider. There is one point in time where they can really see that that one idea and that one thought is going to guide the entire process, and for her, that is a very exciting moment and a very unique thing that she has never experienced anywhere in her career. 

This video under discussion is part of a group of videos made to celebrate the GASB’s 35th year of setting financial reporting standards for state and local governments. 

 

References: 

GASB.org. (n.d). About the GASB. https://www.gasb.org/aboutgasb 

GASB. (2019, November 14). GASB@35 Lisa Parker and Paulina Haro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6KdlhEB9OU