Nearly 30 years after Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman sat listening to a keynote speaker at her own graduation from Walt Whitman High School, she found herself offering some advice as she addressed the Bethesda school’s class of 2025 at Monday’s graduation ceremony in Washington, D.C.
But first, the former Montgomery County resident acknowledged that some people may not know the true nature of her job, in which she serves as the state’s chief financial officer.
“You made it. Congratulations,” Lierman told the graduating class of 534 seniors during the ceremony at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. “Before we let you go though, you have to sit through a speech by an elected official with a title that looks sort of made up.”
A 1997 Whitman graduate, Lierman was one of many keynote speakers – ranging from professional athletes to local politicians – who were tasked with inspiring this spring’s graduates of Montgomery County Public Schools. Following Monday’s ceremonies for Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, six graduations remain – with ceremonies Wednesday for James Hubert Blake, John F. Kennedy and Springbrook high schools and for Northwood, Paint Branch and Clarksburg on Thursday.
As Whitman’s keynote speaker, Lierman focused on the concept of gratitude — not only as a foundation for the graduating students’ attitudes toward others, but also because of the power of receiving it from others.
“First, gratitude is really important for the unexpected journey you guys are about to go on, because life is about to take you in directions you did not plan and that is OK,” Lierman told the Whitman seniors. “I hope you don’t think that when I was sitting here, I was dreaming of being the state comptroller.”
In November 2022, Lierman became the first woman to be elected to the post. During her career, she worked as a civil rights attorney in Baltimore before starting her political path with a successful campaign for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates, where she represented a part of Baltimore city for eight years.
Lierman noted her dream when she graduated from Whitman was to join the Peace Corps, but she was heartbroken when an arthritis diagnosis stripped her of her medical clearance. The issue forced her to pivot to a job as a field organizer for former Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone (D).
“Looking back, I’m deeply grateful because that detour actually brought me closer to my purpose than any plan I could have made,” Lierman said.
She noted other examples of how gratitude played a central role in her career, such as when she was an attorney representing a community in Baltimore fighting against the opening of a liquor store near a church. She said she felt terrible when she lost the case, believing she had failed the people she had represented. Lierman told the students she was taken aback when she received overwhelming gratitude from the community — simply for listening to the residents and trying to help.
A decade later she found a social media post by a member of the community endorsing her for state comptroller and telling the story of how she stuck up for him and his community.
“I was blown away by that post and I will never forget it because it made me feel like no matter what happened in the election, I had already won,” Lierman said.
Recalling her time as a Whitman student, Lierman said she was grateful for not only the good things that happened, but also the struggles that she experienced, and credited both for shaping the rest of her life.
“Despite the fact that we are some of the luckiest people in the world to have graduated from a high school like Whitman, I can’t promise that there won’t be stress and sadness and frustration and anger in your life. But I think if you center gratitude, you’ll be able to look back on those moments without feeling them so acutely,” she said.
