‘A Force Multiplier’

After earning a bachelor’s degree in political science, teaching English in Spain, leading backpacking and bikepacking tours in Costa Rica and Europe and working as a kayak guide in the Upper Midwest, Finnegan Keilty, MPP Class of 2027, started a career as a financial advisor.

He soon discovered a deep interest in municipal finance and enrolled at the Harris School of Public Policy. Its association with the Center for Municipal Finance and the number of faculty who work in public capital markets were powerful draws.

Then Keilty heard about Harris’ new course, Careers in Municipal Finance. He immediately enrolled.

“I thought, ‘Well, there we go,’” Keilty said. “‘That’s exactly what I’m looking for. The faster that I can start networking and learn about the industry, the better off I’m probably going to be.’”

Launched in the fall quarter of 2025, the innovative Careers in Municipal Finance course allows students to prioritize and integrate career development while maintaining their academic commitments. Over the nine-week, no-credit, on-transcript course, students receive industry overviews; learn about prospective organizations and career paths, financial statements and analysis; and learn how to land and prepare for an interview—including practicing interviews with an employer partner—and network.

The class is the latest offering in Harris’ “Careers In” initiative, which began in 2024 with Careers in International Development.

Careers in Municipal Finance is bolstered by Harris’ strong relationships in the field, underscored by twelve employer sponsors of the class, including HilltopSecurities, PMA Securities, LLC, and Loop Capital. The interaction between the partnerships and Harris’ career development team is another key distinction of Careers in Municipal Finance.

“What’s really exciting is taking all these opportunities that already exist within Harris generally and specifically within our Municipal Finance community and giving that more structure,” said Research Professor Justin Marlowe, who also serves as director of the Center for Municipal Finance, editor-in-chief of Municipal Finance Journal, and host of the Public Money Podcast. “We want to make sure that everyone who might have any interest in this area has a structured path to find their way into the field.”

He called the new class, “a force multiplier that will make what we’re doing, that much more accessible to our students and to employers. We’ve been working toward this for a long time, it’s wonderful to see it happen.”

Format benefits students, industry

While students are well-positioned professionally, they sometimes devote so much energy to academics that career considerations can drift or overwhelm them, said Krisinda Doherty, associate dean of professional and career services at Harris.

Students pursue municipal finance internships—often a pipeline for full-time positions—between their first and second year. But they were unable to acquire key industry knowledge in the classroom until their second year in the program.

As a solution to that concern, Careers in Municipal Finance offers important academic knowledge, career skills, and employer exposure in students’ first quarter.

“What’s special about this is that we’re taking the academic engine and getting it as close as we can to the student experience and student career outcomes,” Doherty said.

Careers in Municipal Finance also benefits industry sponsors who want access to the strong talent pool at Harris, with Harris students going on to work for ratings agencies, as underwriters, policy advisers, and more, in places as diverse as Chicago, New York, Denver, Texas, and across the country.

And, Marlowe said, the class is an opportunity to engage with Chicagoland’s municipal finance community, which has a reputation for collaboration and supporting young talent.

“There’s no other place that has access to the Chicago municipal finance community the way that we do,” he said. “To know that we can take our students and introduce them to that community as soon as possible means that they’re that much closer to establishing themselves in the industry.”

Municipal finance impact

Keilty is one of 40 students enrolled in Careers in Municipal Finance. He said the amount of communication flowing from the course about opportunities and networking “has been incredible and slightly overwhelming, which is wonderful.”

“It can be such a drag to chase down networking opportunities and be reaching out all the time,” he added. “The fact that we have a very dedicated course and staff and faculty surrounding and supporting students to learn more about this is really wonderful.”

At the first class in September, three representatives from Hilltop, including President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Winges, spoke about their backgrounds, their work and why they were drawn to the industry. They also discussed the municipal bond market generally and current concerns they are monitoring. Senior Vice President Allison Pink walked students through a case study on the City of Chicago.

“Then we all got to ask questions,” Keilty said. “It was incredibly exciting for me personally.”

It was “fascinating and cool” to hear from people working for decades in municipal finance, he added. Even more compelling was seeing and hearing them talk about what drew them to the industry and what they enjoy about it, Keilty said.

“In the world of finance, there are a lot of misconceptions or skepticism about what the finance industry is, what the work is and what impact it has,” he said. “A lot of people think of the finance industry as one that makes money for people who have lots of it already or helps save money for people who already have a lot of it.”

What drew Keilty, others in Careers in Municipal Finance, and those who spoke to the class, to the field is the realization that municipal finance can have a substantial, positive impact on peoples’ lives. Municipal finance is utilized to build public transportation, roads, bridges, water systems, schools, and parks, among many amenities.

“To hear these professionals reframe public finance, place it in a little different light and say why they had stayed in public finance was heartening,” Keilty said. “I saw a lot of my values reflected in that.”

Pioneering approach

HilltopSecurities, an investment banking institution with a longstanding public finance emphasis, has supported the Center for Municipal Finance for years. The firm partnered with Careers in Municipal Finance to enhance Harris’ commitment to municipal finance education and to broaden understanding about the field, Hilltop President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Winges said.

“HilltopSecurities is focused on being the national leader in municipal finance,” he added. “Strengthening education in the field at an institution with the reputation of Harris is key to that objective and to driving wider appreciation for the crucial role municipal finance plays building stronger, more resilient communities."’

Andrew Kim, MPP, 2009, Public Finance Director at PMA Securities, LLC, underscored and elaborated on those themes after speaking to a Careers in Municipal Finance class in early October.

“It’s pioneering and the first of its kind, at least that I’m aware of, among Master’s of Public Policy programs,” Kim said of the class. Many public finance career opportunities across a range of industries and governments are vacant, he added.

“It’s great that Harris is focusing on this industry in general, to educate students and prospective students about what kind of opportunities are available for them,” he said.