Former Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Karen Montgomery has been named director of finance for the city of Murphy in Collin County.
Montgomery starts her new position on March 27.
“Karen has a virtually ideal set of skills and experience that can serve Murphy quite well,” said City Manager Mike Castro, PhD. “Her career track seems to be tailor-made for our needs. She brings a new perspective to the position, and at the same time, has a deep public sector background that gives her a solid footing in municipal government.”
She is the current chief financial officer for Ability Connection Texas, a statewide nonprofit headquartered in Dallas that serves children and adults with special needs. Prior to that, she was vice president of finance and administration at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in the state capital. This position was preceded by a similar post at Fort Worth’s Texas Wesleyan University.
Before joining the university, Montgomery was an assistant city manager in Fort Worth, where she was responsible for budget, financial services, human resources, equipment services and information technology departments. After Fort Worth established the position of chief financial officer, Montgomery was chosen to serve as that position’s first appointee.
She was director of finance in Douglas County and CFO for El Paso County in Colorado, as well as deputy executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System and director of finance for the city of Norman, Oklahoma.
She earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Colorado at Denver and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Oklahoma. She is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Advanced Leadership Institute and of the University of Wisconsin’s Advanced Government Finance Institute. She has previously earned Credentialed Manager designation through the International City Management Association.