It is a great honor for me to serve as the 2024–2025 international president of TEI, and I am proud to be the first Canadian female to lead as international president in the Institute’s history of closeto eighty years.
TEI has made such a big difference in my career, and I feel privileged to serve this great organization.
I have spent many years supporting this organization in a variety of ways. I loved being international treasurer not once, but twice! That kind of work brings me joy and fulfillment, and now as international president, I am sure I will find the same kind of fulfillment alongside incredible people.
I have several major goals for the coming year in the following four categories: branding, education, value/advocacy, and infrastructure.
In branding, I look forward to sharing more about TEI with young tax professionals and students. I am delighted that we are yet again providing experiences for young professionals through the TEI International Tax Student Case Competition, which is already scheduled for August 16, 2025, in Montreal. This competition has provided tax students with real experiences for those who are looking to enter our field of work and created true excitement about the type of work that can be done when joining this profession. We’re also continuing the Tax Talks with TEI podcast on Spotify, which shares valuable insights from seasoned tax professionals to help further our mission toward guiding young tax professionals and students eyeing careers in in-house tax, and an accompanying Instagram account (see sidebar to listen and follow). Beyond the competition, I plan to establish a Young Tax Network, which will offer focused programming, engagement, and mentoring for the next generation, as well as a Women’s Tax Network to further support the outstanding women in our profession.
Tying that to education, I am excited to broaden our offerings and offer TEI members a leadership development series to ensure we are providing members with the skills and resources needed to succeed as they advance in their careers. We also plan to review and strengthen our robust chapter scholarship program and enhance TEI’s relationships with universities with tax programs.
On the value, advocacy, and infrastructure fronts, we are going through many changes, all of which are only helping us strengthen our ties to one another. As a longtime member of the Montreal Chapter, one of my priorities is to ensure that our international chapters feel represented and that we all feel connected and supported, even when our geographic locations are different. To that end, I am very pleased with our new member tools, particularly TEI Engage, which make it easier for members to find each other and connect as tax professionals, and the Chapter Hub tools. It is much easier for us to communicate now than it ever has been. Inclusion at all levels of TEI will give us better perspectives and more ways to connect and learn from one another, and we intend to update members we continue to evolve our digital community capabilities and ensure alignment for members around the world. TEI has many committees globally doing terrific work around advocacy. As TEI members, so many options exist for members to engage and find value in these committees so please reach out if you would like help in exploring ways to get more involved. You can allocate as much time as you are able to and there are opportunities that are virtual and do not involve travel.
Speaking of connecting, I look forward to seeing many of you in San Antonio soon. I am so excited to come back to this city where we can have many exciting conversations, skill-building experiences, and more.
I look forward to connecting with all of you soon and to furthering our purpose together.
Sincerely,
Josie Scalia
TEI International President