Celebrating Accomplishments and Future Plans

As 2025 is upon us, I wish everyone a happy new year! I also want to take this opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments we’ve achieved together this past year and thank all our members for being part of the National Association of Enrolled Agent (NAEA) community. It has been a year of growth, advocacy, and innovation, all aimed at strengthening the enrolled agent (EA) profession.

Members voted on three major bylaw changes in December 2023. A major component of these changes was to allow the NAEA to create chapters to help strengthen member services at the local level and relieve the pressure on volunteers. The chapter structure took effect in September, and we have been working with the new chapters since that time on planning and organizing events, marketing, and other aspects of promoting the EA credential.

The NAEA also continues to work closely with state affiliates. We plan to continue to host monthly share shops for affiliate leaders and create other opportunities for collaboration and partnerships, to ensure that we all continue to work together to serve the EA profession.

We have experienced an increase in the recruitment of new members. This is the first time in many years that we have seen this trend. This accomplishment is not just about advertising and reach, this is also about being an inclusive organization that supports all enrolled agents. We will continue to strengthen our outreach and support through additional programming and services geared towards those new to the profession. Donor support of the NAEA Education Foundation and EA scholarships have been instrumental in helping to expand those efforts.

The new strategic plan that was approved at the September 2024 board of directors meeting is a plan that looks to the future of the NAEA and includes three priorities: member engagement, advocacy, and enrolled agent awareness. After spending the last few years strengthening the financial health and structure of the association, and with all the changes happening in the tax and accounting world, we will be expanding our efforts on awareness of the enrolled agent credential among consumers, as well as future tax professionals.

The NAEA also scored an advocacy win in October and successfully challenged a corporate advertising initiative. We, along with several other tax professional groups, sent a clear message that their messaging was undercutting the professional tax professional community and devaluing the services they offer to clients. It was a successful demonstration of the power of a united NAEA as well as the power of associations at work.

The NAEA will continue advocating for our profession, providing quality education, as well as expanding the visibility of enrolled agents. The heart of our organization is the members. We remain committed to creating a vibrant community. We want our organization to be a community of professionals who can connect, collaborate, and grow together so that we will be “bigger and better together.”

Your membership and engagement with the NAEA make all this possible. Thank you, and I hope you have a great tax season!