Leadership and Learning

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." – John F. Kennedy

Dear Colleagues,

To me, this quote sums up the value of our programming within the NAST family. I have found time spent at conferences to be invaluable to my work as the Indiana Treasurer of State. Learning is fundamental to leading, both in our offices and in our states.

This year I have the honor of chairing the Program & Learning Committee by succeeding Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, our current NAST president. She led us through a record year of conference attendance and fundraising last year. It will be a hard act to follow – but I’ll try!

In 2020, my staff and I will be traveling to Washington, DC for the Legislative Conference; then to Portland, Oregon for TMTS; and lastly to San Diego for the Annual Conference. Three fantastic locations that will facilitate learning and networking opportunities for NAST members. I hope to see all of you there too!

The first conference this year will be the Legislative Conference in DC in only a few weeks (February 9-11). This will be an opportunity for us to gather and advocate for important legislation affecting state treasurer offices, such as celebrating the 5th anniversary of the ABLE Act, a muni-bond update, as well as the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act. Speaking about ABLE, there is an entire track dedicated to that issue, so please check out the agenda for those sessions.

At the request of the Committee, there will be roundtable discussions on topics like: the census, college savings plans, retirement issues, and cybersecurity. In fact, we’ve requested that sessions on fraud and security be included in all NAST programming since this is such an important issue for our offices. We invite your feedback on what you need for your office trainings.

In preparation for our Hill appointments on Tuesday, we will have a Lobbying 101 primer in case you are new to your role, or need a refresher. Also, to help you prepare, NAST has developed several policy toolkits to assist us as we meet with our Members of Congress. Don’t forget to make your appointments ahead of time and if you need help NAST’s new Policy Director Brian Egan can assist. If you have not registered for the conference, there is still time! You can find the complete agenda and register here.

A saying I heard very early on in the treasurer world is "when you have seen one treasurer’s office, you have seen one treasurer’s office." While that is very true, I hope that this year’s programing provides learning opportunities for all of us as we work to provide the best services to our constituents.

Please never hesitate to reach out to any of the Committee members with suggestions or comments on our conference structure, or topics you would like to see discussed at an upcoming event.

See you in Washington,

Kelly Mitchell
Indiana Treasurer of State
NAST Senior Vice President