Overview

June 8

State and local governments have long relied on last year’s budget to make next year’s budget – historical precedent is the primary determinant of how much money is allocated to each line item. The simplicity of this approach to budgeting has advantages, but it’s backward-looking, not forward-looking, and can make governments slow to adapt to change and potentially lose touch with the needs and priorities of their communities.

Frederick County, Maryland, and the City of Denton, Texas, are addressing common budgeting challenges by deploying new tools that enable them to better manage the budget process. Learn more about their budget modernization journeys, challenges they face, and tips for success during a webinar hosted by Government Technology and Questica on June 8.

Our panel will feature Aimee Kaslik, Chief Strategy Officer for the City of Denton; Tanya Kauffman, Budget Staff Software Integrator for Frederick County; Stefan Baerg, Head of Enterprise and Mid-Market Sales for Euna Solutions; Mike Bell, CEO from Envisio; and Chris Adams, President of Balancing Act.

During this live, interactive webcast, we’ll explore best practices for integrating approaches to:

· Constituent engagement

· Strategic planning

· Budget preparation and management

Speakers

Aimee Kaslik

Chief Strategy Officer, City of Denton

Aimee Kaslik joined the City of Denton in September 2022 and is currently serving as Chief Strategic Officer. Aimee has over 25 years of experience in local government, much of which has been dedicated to performance excellence. This includes implementing best practices, innovative approaches, and national standards that promote a higher level of service, improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness, and elevate the use of data as an asset. She is one of fewer than 100 individuals around the world to be designated a Chief Innovator by Bloomberg Philanthropies and represents the City of Denton as a member of the Bloomberg Cities Network. As Chief Strategic Officer, she is the driving force in developing the City’s strategic planning and performance management framework and is dedicated to bolstering the organization’s ability to make data-informed, strategic decisions. Before joining the City of Denton, Aimee was the Chief Innovation and Performance Officer for the City of Irving, where she led the organization to achieve silver certification and be recognized as an industry leader through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative, the standard of excellence for data-driven, well-managed local government.

Tanya Kauffman

Budget Staff Software Integrator, Frederick County

Tanya has been with the county for 19 years. Tanya was a Budget Analyst for most of her career with Frederick County but moved into the role of the Software Integrator position a few years ago. She has also been a CPA for 29 years.

Stefan Baerg — Moderator

Head of Enterprise and Mid-Market Sales, Euna Solutions

Stefan is the Head of Enterprise and Mid-Market Sales for Euna Solutions and holds deep knowledge and experience in SaaS, GovTech and public sector sales. Stefan started his Euna Solutions journey as the Vice President of Sales for Questica Software, before adding responsibility for Marketing as well as sales leadership for eCivis. Prior to Questica, Stefan spent time leading sales organizations at Amex and TD Bank as well as founding his own HR Consulting firm. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with Distinction from the University of Alberta, and currently resides in Burlington, Ontario with his wife Teresa and their red lab-retriever Roxy. Together, he and his wife have 3 university aged children, and when not working, you can be sure to find Stefan riding his bike.

Mike Bell — Moderator

Chief Executive Officer, Envisio

Mike has dedicated his professional and personal life to seeking out challenges – traveling to the edge of his comfort zone and then pushing a bit further. He’s a serial entrepreneur, combining his thirst for adventure with his drive for doing work that matters. Mike is a recognized expert in local government strategic planning, performance management, and comparative benchmarking. Mike’s passion for public service drives him and his team to build more efficient, transparent, and trusted public sector agencies. As ‘private sector public servants’ the Envisio team helps to align the work of governments with the needs of their communities by activating strategic plans, engaging employees, measuring performance, and reporting on results. Mike is father to three girls and an avid skier, golfer, badminton player, and photographer.

Chris Adams — Moderator

President, Balancing Act

Chris is national leader in citizen engagement, public policy and facilitation, and President of Balancing Act by Polco. Founded in 2015, Balancing Act is an award-winning provider of simulation-based public engagement tools for citizens and government leaders to tackle complex challenges through productive public input. Previously, Chris founded public engagement strategy firm Engaged Public, and was Director and Associate Director of The Center for Ethics and Social Policy in Berkeley, California. He has published more than 100 essays in publications including The Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, Governing, The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle and many others. He is a past speaker at the distinguished Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado, delivering five presentations on the theme “Values and Ethics in a Fragile World.” Adams is the former president of the board of Denver Urban Gardens, a network of more than 100 community gardens. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Colorado.

Steve Towns — Moderator

Director of Content Strategy, e.Republic

Steve Towns is director of content strategy for the Center for Digital Government. He is the former editor of Government Technology and has spent more than 25 years covering technology in the state and local government market. Steve joined e.Republic in 1996. During his tenure, e.Republic’s print and electronic media have received many awards for editorial excellence, including “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Emergency Management in 2013, “Best New Web Site” from ASBPE for emergencymgmt.com in 2009, ”Best Overall Publication” at the Maggie awards for Government Technology in 2008 and “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Public CIO in 2007.

Webinar

Rethinking Budgeting in Action