Title: Co-Director, PFM Center for Budget Equity & Innovation
Firm: PFM
Age: 35
Matthew Stitt is a director and national lead for equitable recovery and strategic financial initiatives in PFM's Management and Budget Consulting team.
He advises public sector leaders on structural changes, budget reforms and financial planning. He also co-leads a significant consulting practice at PFM — the Center for Budget Equity and Innovation (CBEI) — while serving as a leader/advocate for junior staff members.
Before joining PFM, Matthew was the chief financial officer for the City Council of Philadelphia, where he led the annual review of the city's multi-billion dollar operating and capital budgets and strategic plans, as well as advising on all fiscal matters related to proposed legislation.
He served as the council appointee on a number of boards and committees, including the Board of Pensions and Retirement, COVID-19 Recovery Steering Committee and the Philadelphia Accelerator Fund, promoting innovative funding approaches for affordable housing and community development.
Matthew said he felt he was making a difference by helping his clients and the industry.
"At an institutional level, the core of what we do at CBEI is to help our clients achieve their goals for change by applying and advancing emerging equity-based tools and analytical practices in service delivery, budgeting, and capital investment," he said. "At an individual level, I have a very different lived experience and perspective than many of my counterparts in this field. The impact I make is through forging a path for voices which have been underrepresented in this industry."
He said that sharing his knowledge and experience was key in helping others.
He instructs at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania as an adjunct lecturer and was recently appointed a Distinguished Fellow. He also serves as a board member on the Haverford College Board of Managers as a Young Alumni Associate, the Free Library of Philadelphia Board of Trustees, as well as the Greater Philadelphia YMCA Board of Directors.
"Mentoring and growing staff is what's most satisfying to me," Matthew said. "When I was a student at Fels, I had a great experience with mentorship and have sought to pass that experience forward. I'm passionate about helping people cultivate and achieve both professional and personal goals, and I go about that by fostering a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and growth."
He said he is and always will be a Philly guy.
"I am wholly invested in Philadelphia, and I don't mean only the professional sports teams and the food scene," he said. "Being from Philly, the friends I grew up with had very disparate access to opportunity. I've made a conscious decision to stay in Philadelphia and figure out how to bridge the opportunity gap so that life's circumstances aren't dictated by someone's zip code. I give back as much of my spare time to the community as I can."
He has an B.A. in anthropology from Haverford College, an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from Fox School of Business at Temple University and an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
