Enriching, Learning, and Collaborating

Throughout 2020 and 2021, we have all experienced a life-changing period in history, and it has reinforced priorities for each of us both personally and professionally.  One of these reinforced priorities has been education.

As a mother of five—and after homeschooling for more than a year—I have seen tremendous resilience from students, parents, teachers, and government officials.  This has emphasized the importance of continuing to make enriching, learning, and collaborating top priorities for all of us.

Professionally, as President of the AIF Institute and Executive Program Director for the National Institute of Public Finance (NIPF), I have witnessed a similar resilience.  The necessary distance created during this crisis has not hindered us from finding new ways to connect and support each other in our respective industries.

At a strategic level, investments in education have been coupled with investments in technology to not only help bridge the gaps created by the pandemic, but also to pave new paths for the next phases and possible hybrid models.  While we have been mastering how to be our best "zoom-selves," we have embraced the creativity in collaboration to accomplish even more and be better positioned for the future.

State Treasurers and their offices have led the way in this space by rapidly adapting to new environments, ensuring key collaboration on important issues, and prioritizing time for educational enrichment—for themselves and their communities.  Additionally, the NAST staff, supported by the NAST Executive Leadership, was able to rethink education and how to support the Treasury community, engaging even more constituents in the process and providing a virtual platform to empower the learning, collaboration, and support.

Treasury Management Training Symposium

Next week, the NAST Treasury Management Training Symposium (TMTS) will be coming to each of you virtually.  The symposium will feature eight weeks (70 hours) of timely professional education and networking to empower treasury management professionals during these challenging times.   NAST President Treasurer Kelly Mitchell (IN) and Program and Learning Committee Chair Treasurer Shawn Wooden (CT) will kick off this year’s TMTS.  They will preview the nine tracks and the special emphasis on information, data, and best practices during the pandemic.

Take time to enrich yourselves or share your expertise as a speaker during the 2021 TMTS, May 10–July 2.

NIPF Mini-Series within TMTS

While it was a difficult decision to postpone the NIPF until July 2022, the postponement has provided a unique opportunity for a special mini-series of NIPF courses that will be offered during the 2021 TMTS.

Tune in on Wednesday, May 12 for a special NIPF overview session and hear highlights about the 2022 NIPF from Co-Chairs Treasurer Deborah Goldberg (MA) and Comptroller Glenn Hegar (TX).  Additionally, the NIPF Track Chairs will navigate the planned curriculum and faculty for 2022 and how each of the four sessions will help treasury professionals reimagine treasury management.

Be sure to check out the NIPF mini-series courses within their respective TMTS tracks.  

A Special Thank You

I would like to extend a special thank you to our NIPF Board of Trustees and Track Chairs (Andrea Feirstein, Executive Treasury Management Track; Hector Negroni, Public Finance and Debt Management Track; and Brant Maller and Charles Dufresne Jr., Investments and Pensions Track) for their amazing dedication and innovative design for the program during these challenging times.  I would also like to thank our certificate partners at Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School for their continued support and accreditation for this critical educational program.

I continue to be inspired by each of you making your own personal investment in education.  I look forward to joining you, as together we enrich, learn, and collaborate on ABLE, College Savings Plans, Financial Education, Retirement Security, Unclaimed Property and more.  I hope to see each of you at the 2021 TMTS and the special NIPF mini-series courses, as we prepare for the next NIPF program cycle in 2022.

Melissa Waller
Executive Program Director, National Institute of Public Finance (NIPF)
President, AIF Institute
Director of Public and Private Partnerships, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise