Mr. Esser is the executive director emeritus of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). He recently retired from the GFOA after serving more than 35 years as chief executive officer. He began his career with GFOA in 1979 as the director of its Federal Liaison Center.
Mr. Esser also sits on the board of directors of the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and is chair of the Endowment Board of the Bernard Zell Day School in Chicago. He is also a volunteer consultant with the Executive Service Corps of Chicago and provides strategic and financial advice to not-for-profit organizations.
Before joining GFOA, Mr. Esser served as the staff director of government operations and director of the criminal justice and consumer affairs project for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Mr. Esser holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and he also studied in the public administration graduate program at George Washington University, Washington D.C.