See You Later.

• Author: Trager, Mitchell
• Position: Tax Executives Institute

This is my last letter to you as TEI's international president. It has been my privilege to lead this incredible organization for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. I want to thank TEI members, staff, sponsors, and officers for their support during my tenure.

I am writing this letter in May, since I am concluding my term a little early and joining the firm of Dixon Hughes Goodman (DHG). The timing of this decision was driven by an upcoming merger in June between DHG and BKD to form a new combined firm, FORVIS. As you can imagine, leaving the ranks of my fellow in-house tax professionals to join a professional services firm was not easy, but I am excited about my new adventure!

Rest assured, however, that I expect to interact with you in my new role. Most important, I am confident that I am leaving TEI in very capable hands with my good friend, Wayne Monfries, the current TEI senior vice president, who took over as acting international president on May 23.

Staff Transformation

One of the most important accomplishments this past year involves our staff, as TEI reinvents itself to deal with a post-pandemic world. Christine Hayes Botts, formerly our publications manager, took over as our marketing and communications manager last August. Sona Camara joined TEI as its membership and chapter relations manager last August and has tremendously improved the processing of new member applications and reinstatements. Todd Lard joined TEI in January as our new tax counsel, assuming responsibility for state and local tax and tax technology education and advocacy initiatives. Kerry Ann Bolton joined in February as our new digital education and events manager, with responsibility for building TEI's online learning management system. And most recently, as will be discussed below, we have created two new roles: Tanya Coogan joined us as director of membership and chapter relations, and Martin Schuebel came aboard as our new director of marketing, communications, and events. These additions, along with our current staff under Pilar Mata's leadership, make TEI well-prepared to address the opportunities before it.

We have accomplished a lot during my term. To name just a few achievements: returning to in-person conferences and meetings; running fully hybrid Annual and Midyear Conferences; automating CPE tracking and certification; supporting chapters with Zoom and hybrid meetings; identifying how our business model has changed in a post-pandemic world; and positioning...