Women in Tax Forum

Our mission is to empower, support, and celebrate women to build powerful tax careers and lives that we love.

The Women in Tax Forum welcomes you! If you are seeking a community focused on supporting, empowering, and celebrating women to build powerful tax careers across all regions and specialties, we invite you to join us!

Who We Are

The Women in Tax Forum was founded at the end of 2019 by Joan Arnold, Chair, ABA Section of Taxation (2020-2021), and Heather Fincher with a vision that every member be connected in community, flourishing as tax professionals, and thriving as leaders.  Our new community officially launched in January 2020 under founding Leadership Board members Heather Fincher, Lauren Azebu, Brie Siciliano, and Sarah Ma.

Our mission is to empower, support, and celebrate women to build powerful tax careers and lives that we love by creating events centered around three pillars:

• Community – We’re committed to creating a safe space to connect, challenge, and encourage one another to be our absolute best, in our tax careers and all of life.
• Professional Development – We provide opportunities to level up our skills and learn from other successful tax professionals and experts.
• Leadership – We empower and support one another to lead in our own style, even if that style may differ from other traditional styles of leadership.

Event highlights from 2020-2021 include:

• Monthly Zoom Teas where we connect with leading women in tax who share stories of success, challenges and growth during a 45-minute “tea” live via Zoom;
• ABA Conference events including a networking event called “Community and Conversation,” an interactive keynote entitled “The Power of Owning Your Value,” and a panel centered around “The Power of Collaborative Leadership;”
• A six-week wellness and meditation series focused on authentic leadership;
• Law student outreach events highlighting various careers in tax. View the “Careers in Public Interest” recording here.
• A hot topic virtual panel, “Effectuating Positive Change Through Allyship.” View a highlights video here.

Meet the WITF Leadership Board

• Abigail Burke, Vice-Chair
• Darianne De Leon, Vice-Chair
• Blair Hlinka, Vice-Chair
• Candice James, Vice-Chair
• Sonia Shaikh, Vice-Chair

Meet the WITF Advisory Board

• Joan Arnold, Chair of the ABA Section of Taxation (2020-2021), Co-Founder of WITF, and Partner, Troutman Pepper
• Sharon Heck, Corporate Vice President, Finance and Chief Tax Officer, Intel
• Cathy Fung, Attorney (Financial Institutions and Products), Office of Chief Counsel, IRS
• Danielle Rolfes, Partner, Co-lead International Tax, Washington National Tax, KPMG
• Megan Brackney, Partner, Kostelanetz, LLP

Get Involved!

The Women in Tax Forum is a community under the ABA Tax Section’s Vice Chair of Diversity, Membership and Inclusion.

To join our Women in Tax Forum community and mailing list, follow the join instructions below.

To join our LinkedIn group, click here.

Join the Women in Tax Forum

This committee is open to both tax section members and non-members. To join click here and then click Join Committees or follow the detailed steps below. A more detailed committee help page is available here. Not a Section Member? Join today!

1. Click Log In in the upper right corner of this website.
2. Log in to your My ABA account. If you do not remember your email address or password, click Need Help Logging In? and follow the instructions.
3. Once you are logged in, click 'Hi Your Name' in the upper right then click My ABA.
4. On the My ABA Dashboard page, click on Manage Memberships (a button toward the right with a right arrow).
5. If you are a Section Member (if you are not a Section Member see #8) you will see Section of Taxation under Specialty Group Memberships & Committees, click Join Committees to the right. If you are not a Section member, consider joining the Section to access our committees.
   
6. You will now see a list of Tax Section Committees. To join one, simply click Join next to the name of the committee. A check mark will appear to confirm you have joined. To leave a committee, simply click the check mark and you will see Join reappear indicating you are no longer a member of that committee.
7. Joining a committee will automatically add you to the committee's listserv. Committees encourage member involvement through these committee listservs, other online platforms, and in-person at our meetings and events. 
8. If you are not a Section Member you are still welcome to join the group! Just reach out to Tax Staff at [email protected] and we will add you.

Stay in Touch: The Women in Tax Forum Listserv

Committees share news, events, and updates through a dedicated committee listserv. As a committee member, you are welcome and encouraged to share resources, events, or ask questions to fellow committee members that are directly relevant. The listserv email address can be found below. You are automatically added to the listserv and will receive email notifications when you join a committee.  Learn more about managing your committees.

• View Committee Listserv Email Address

Click the link above to view the committee listserv email address. Note: you must be logged in and a Section Member to view the address.

More Resources

• Listserv How to and FAQ
• How to Manage Your Tax Committees

Join the Committee

This committee is open to all Tax Section members. To join click here and then click Join Committees or follow the detailed steps below. A more detailed committee help page is available here. Not a Section Member? Join today!

1. Click Log In in the upper right corner of this website.
2. Log in to your My ABA account. If you do not remember your email address or password, click Need Help Logging In? and follow the instructions.
3. Once you are logged in, click 'Hi Your Name' in the upper right then click My ABA.
4. On the My ABA Dashboard page, click on Manage Memberships (a button toward the right with a right arrow).
5. If you are a Section Member,  you will see Section of Taxation under Specialty Group Memberships & Committees, click Join Committees to the right. If you are not a Section member, consider joining the Section to access our committees.
   
6. You will now see a list of Tax Section Committees. To join one, simply click Join next to the name of the committee. A check mark will appear to confirm you have joined. To leave a committee, simply click the check mark and you will see Join reappear indicating you are no longer a member of that committee.
7. Joining a committee will automatically add you to the committee's listserv. Committees encourage member involvement through these committee listservs, other online platforms, and in-person at our meetings and events. 

Have a Question or Need Assistance? Contact Staff

If you have questions contact staff at the email addresses below and we will respond as soon as possible! 

• Dan Swenson, Technology Manager
  [email protected]
• Michelle Aguirre, Committee Manager
  [email protected]