Ensuring every member's voice is heard.

• Author: Twinem, Carita R.

While the colors are changing and the U.S. Presidential Campaign is coming down to its final days, TEI is in full swing, tackling the projects and initiatives central to our overall Members First theme. I am delighted to report that members of TEI's Board of Directors responded well to my invitation for them to participate actively in our pursuit of the goals that were outlined in my last column. In order to keep members fully informed of our efforts--and our progress--in my columns, I will focus on selected projects, highlighting the members involved, identifying the ideas and the options being considered, and reporting on the progress made. Members can be assured that TEI remains dedicated to working for their benefit. All its members, all the time. To ensure we achieve this goal, a common thread woven through all our activities this year is this: Every member's voice, every point of view, is important, and everyone will be heard.

TEI has developed an extensive and respected record of advocating on behalf of our members. We accomplish all that we do by listening carefully to the insights and needs of our members and, then, developing thorough, thoughtful, and incisive comments. And we do this while striking a balance in respect of our comments' temper, taste, and tone. Our listening skills--our balancing skills--will surely be tested as the Institute and the Nation turns their attention to the tax reform debate.

I am under no illusion that these efforts will be anything but complex. Indeed, our greatest strengths--the breadth and diversity of our membership--are, in the context of tax reform, something that will challenge us. How do you not break faith with the Institute's consensus model of decision-making while working to reconcile potentially irreconcilable positions, and how do you accomplish that without resorting to a vague, all-things-for-all-people, "lowest common denominator" approach? Very, very carefully, I say. You do it by being honest, forthright, and transparent about your points of view, by seeking common ground that leverages the Institute's strengths, and by ensuring that everyone's voice is heard.

I am truly delighted that John Mann, Vice-President--Tax for Walgreen Company and a member of the Chicago Chapter, is leading our efforts as chair of TEI's Tax Reform Task Force. John possesses both technical sophistication and good old-fashioned Midwestern common sense. (As a fellow Midwesterner, I'm able to say that!) John...