Happy Saturday and welcome to CEO Speaks for Saturday, March 25, 2023.

When we talk about being a part of something bigger at TMA, a dimension that bigger encompasses is the depth and diversity of opportunities our organization offers. These last two weeks showed this in grand form.

Last week I, along with Global President Jim Van Horn had the opportunity to attend and participate in the Mid-America Regional Conference held this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The conference, a collaborative regional effort courtesy of TMA Chicago/Mid-West, TMA Detroit, TMA Minnesota, and TMA West Michigan, and the kick-off of our regional conference season this year was co-chaired by Jack O’Connor, Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC, Mike Boudreau, Morris Anderson, Heather Rachael, Business Financing Solutions, and David Nemes, Business Company, LLC.

I could talk about the stand-out moments that year over the year make this conference defining, connected, and an example of TMA excellence, but today I want to talk about what I saw that defines an actionable, responsive, and inclusive organization that grows by learning and learning how we can be better together by being responsive to the changing dynamics our member, our demographics and what member support and value mean.

One of the stand-out moments at this conference was at its start when, for the first time, the conference opened with a Network of Women Breakfast with a keynote presentation by Katie Lawler of US Bank.

In a room full of both women and men, what that moment represented was a celebration both of inclusiveness and equity of a growing and empowering part of our organization. How wonderful to experience what continues to grow more seamlessly as we embrace issues important to the women of our organization, not in an exclusive, but in an inclusive way.

This is what it means to be a part of something bigger because we do not just talk about how we can be better together we show it in real-time.

I am also so TMA Proud to see not only the support of this regional conference attract so many mid-west members, but those from other areas of the country too, including NY, Fl and California, a testament to what it means to be a part of something bigger and a growing trend at TMA.

Likewise, I am always inspired when I have the opportunity to spend time with our NextGen members, and both at the MARC and again at TMA New York’s NextGen March Madness networking event, I did just that.

At our NYC chapter, for a second year, the NextGen Committee hosted an event that brought together an eclectic group of young professionals, some who are members, some who were at their first TMA event, and others who were curious about TMA, joined to learn more including MBA and law students.

Engaging with our NextGen community and hearing how they are navigating our profession coming out of the difficult pandemic period, how they are managing the new landscape of a largely hybrid work environment they are defining, and seeing them mentor each other through TMA, again reinforces what it means to be a part of something bigger.

I am grateful to spent time with NextGen leaders and members Rob Trenk, Paladin, Andreas Milliaressis,  Andrew Alfano, Cole Schotz P.C., Andrew Matott, Seward & Kissel LLP, Meredith Mitnick, Goodwin, Samantha LeBlanc, Lincoln International, and others who make me a better leader for the understanding they offer me and others about how to work to build a better TMA for embracing their mobilizing vision of the future. This is better together and what it means to be TMA Proud.

In the coming months, we will all have the opportunity to engage with, support, and be part of experiential opportunities with both our Network of Women and NextGen Communities.

Registration is now open for the 2023 TMA Network of Woman Global Conference that will take place on Tuesday, May 23, in New York City at the offices of McDermott Will and Emery. This year’s co-chairs Rakhee Patel, Winstead PC, and Ebba Gebisa, Latham & Watkins, along with the entire NOW Global Committee are planning a day that will undoubtedly engage, empower, and inspire. This year’s conference will be preceded on Monday, May 21, with a boot camp that will be taught by women CTPs and attorneys, a great opportunity to learn the foundation of restructuring finance, management, and law, a precursor to our Certified Turnaround Professional designation.

This summer, on July 27th, our NextGen Global Conference will be held at the office of Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago. More to come on that in the coming weeks.

And since we are talking about being a part of something bigger through TMA, I am thrilled to share that registration is now open for the inaugural TMA Global International Symposium, which will take place in conjunction with the TMA European Annual Conference June 20th-22, in Hamburg, Germany.

This Inaugural International Global Symposium represents an important milestone for TMA, bringing to life in grand fashion, the internationalism of our global organization for all of our members to see, and the culmination of the efforts of two TMA Global International Committees under the leadership of Vice President - International Relations Vlad Nastase of our Romania chapter.

Just as we saw at MARC, last year at the TMA Europe Conference and TMA Deutschland Conference, and what has become both a growing trend and staple of many conference opportunities, there will be a Network of Women program the evening before the International Symposium lead by our TMA Europe President Eva Ringlespacher, Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung.

In connection with this inaugural conference, TMA Global will be hosting a North American delegation of nearly 20 leaders, who for the first time will have the opportunity to join our European leaders and members, as well as others from all over TMA nation in a defining experience that will highlight so many stand out aspects of our actionable, connected, and growing organization.

From sea to sharing sea and across the world, the TMA brand shines and defines the many diverse opportunities we offer our members, all of which continue to elevate member value and what it means to be a part of something bigger.

As I close this CEO Speaks, I do so on a somber note, that stands as a stark reminder that our professionals not only do good work but hard work, that jeopardizes their safety and lives and although we do not often speak of safety issues many of our professionals face, they are real and hit home hard when one of our own falls victim to the bad actors we as professionals take on to restructure companies and protect just causes.

Last week in South Africa Insolvency practitioner Cloete Murray died in hospital after being shot in an apparent hit while driving with his son in, Johannesburg.

Murray, 50, was the court-appointed liquidator for state contractor Bosasa (now African Global Holdings) whose executives were implicated in state capture allegations before chief justice Raymond Zondo. He was involved in several high-profile insolvency cases including corruption within Eskom and other tentacles of state capture. His son Tom Murray, 28, died at the scene of the highway shooting. Their white Toyota Prado was riddled with bullets.

While we have much to celebrate in our organization and profession, it is important to pause and take note of moments like this for they define not just how dedicated we are to what we do, but that our work has real risk. This also reminds us how critically important our support of each other is. Like all else our defining organization stands for, we must be there for each other in turbulent and tragic moments, just as we are there for those that joyously define us.

As always, thanks for taking the time to listen today. In the one connection that is you, your input is critical, your contributions paramount, and your engagement is the foundation that will create a better TMA for all of our members.

Until next time, I’m Scott Stuart. Be safe, resilient, and TMA Proud.