Dear Academy Members:

If you made it to Missoula in June, thank you — it was great to see old faces and meet some new. If you could not join us, you were truly missed, and I regret to report that the views and dine-arounds were every bit as good as the rumors suggest.

It is my honor to serve as your next President. Like many of you, I looked at the bar exam and the CPA exam and thought, “why suffer once when you can suffer twice?” That decision is, in a nutshell, the strange and wonderful thing that binds this Academy together. We are a rare professional species, and the credentials we worked so hard to earn deserves an organization that works just as hard for us.

First, my thanks to Michael Polis for a steady and generous year of leadership. Between the monthly “Happenings” updates, the push to use our channels more effectively, and his focus on connecting directly with members, Mike set a standard we will continue to build. I am grateful for his service and glad to have his counsel going forward.

My priorities for the coming year are simple:

• Grow our membership. We are too good a thing to be one of the best-kept secrets in the profession. I want more professionals to find us — and to stay because they cannot imagine practicing without us.
• Bring in the next generation. Our future depends on law students, accounting students, and early-career professionals discovering that the dual credential is a feature, not a glitch. I want the Academy to be where they land, and where they lead.
• Figure out, honestly, what it takes to do both. Good intentions are not a strategy. Over the coming months I will be asking you directly — through short surveys, calls, and plain old conversation — what would make this Academy more valuable to you and more visible to the people who should be joining it.

That last point is the one I care about most, because it is the one I cannot do alone. If you have an idea, a complaint, a connection at a law school, or a younger colleague who belongs in this room, I want to hear about it. Email me at [email protected] I promise to read every message, and to bill you nothing for the privilege.

We are a small organization that punches well above its weight. With your help this year, I would like us to punch a little harder. Thank you for the trust you have placed in me. Let’s get to work.

Warm regards,
Kaitlyn A. Loughner
President, American Academy of Attorney-CPAs
Partner, Frost Law