Elizabeth Reich named top CFO

Chief Financial Officer at the City of Dallas, Elizabeth Reich, was one of 20 CFOs honored by Dallas Business Journal with the prestigious CFO of the Year award. Reich began her journey with the City of Dallas three years ago during a critical time for the budget office. Faced with an enormous challenge, Reich got right to work and used her 16 years of expertise to build a plan to help save the Dallas Police and Fire Pension. She accomplished this feat within seven months of her hiring. Her plan would later be adopted by the Dallas City Council and together they successfully negotiated for legislation signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to save the pension.

In her time as CFO, Reich has led the charge in developing budgets that prioritize people and reflect the needs of the community. One of her major projects was the Fair Park Management Agreement with the nonprofit Fair Park First, which will save the City a net of $80 million over the first 10 years of the contract. An important goal of this project was to ensure the contract was good for both Fair Park and the City, but most important was her vision of truly transforming that part of the City with this, in her words, “once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference in that area.” In addition to her many accomplishments and innovative projects as CFO, she has reimagined the way budget books are done and worked to make them more accessible and easier to understand to members of the public.

Not only is Elizabeth Reich an incredible innovator and visionary, but also a passionate leader. Managing six departments, she has 575 employees under her wing. She is extremely proud of the hard work her departments do and wants them to know that their work makes a difference. “There is a deep satisfaction,” she says, “that comes with knowing that what you’re doing helps the community,” and she recognizes her staff’s passion for serving the citizens of Dallas, which mirrors her own. Additionally, she sees the many ways her employees help the City continue to function the way it should. Their commitment to service first is evident in the way they take pride in their work and enjoy helping people. This makes her immensely proud of her team.

Looking to the future, Reich plans to continue making the best decisions for the community and the City, ensuring fiscal sustainability and leading her staff in such a way that they continue going beyond the call of duty. Most importantly, she will keep pushing the budget office in the right direction.

Congratulations, Elizabeth Reich, on your well-deserved nomination for this prestigious award!