Advocacy and Awareness – A Constant Focus for the NAEA

I hope this message finds everyone well and enjoying the end of the dog days of summer. It has been a very busy few months for the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) leadership and volunteers.

In July, we held the NAEA’s 52^nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, in conjunction with the 2024 Tax Summit.

During the Tax Summit, we also hosted a new member breakfast. More than 30 new enrolled agents (EAs) attended the breakfast and were personally welcomed by the NAEA board, team, and several past presidents so they, too, can feel our sense of community.

In July, we also began working on the 2025–2028 strategic plan. A strategic plan is the direction for the association which outlines a vision and a set of goals for the organization. It is a plan that will focus on public awareness and advocacy, two key issues that are near and dear to us as members of the NAEA.

This year, we plan to introduce several new public awareness campaigns to enhance the visibility of enrolled agents. And while the NAEA continues to roll out marketing strategies, we must remember that public awareness also begins with us, individually. We must do our part to educate the public of not only who we are, but that we are America’s Tax Experts^®! To use the old (and yet still) accurate phrase, “Public awareness begins at the grassroots level.” See the article on page 40 about all the ways each member can contribute to awareness while enhancing his or her own career.

Our continued advocacy efforts have made the NAEA a key player among the tax stakeholder organizations that interact with those on Capitol Hill. We continue to position ourselves with tax publications and build strong relationships with other journalists to provide commentary on tax subjects because we are America’s Tax Experts^®. We will also continue to be leaders in the growing movement to establish minimum standards for all tax preparers, an issue that the NAEA has worked on for many years.

We are so fortunate that we have a team of diverse individuals who are passionate about our organization. Their knowledge, experiences, and commitment help foster that sense of community and success within our organization. To them, I am so thankful.

We may have a few challenges ahead with some of our planned initiatives, but I am confident with your support and collaboration as a unified organization, we will be the organization that all EAs will want to belong to.

I look forward to this upcoming year as it is an exciting time for the association. I am proud to be a part of this organization and to serve as your president. I hope to build on this sense of community so that we will continue to be “bigger and better together!”