The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Taxation announced recently that Kostelanetz & Fink partner Caroline D. Ciraolo will become the section’s first Vice Chair of Membership, Diversity, and Inclusion. Her term will begin following the ABA Annual Meeting in August.
The Tax Section announced that it created the new vice chair position “to lead efforts to actively support the growth of Section membership, ensure the Section meets member needs, broaden Section diversity, and include diverse persons in all Section activities.”
Tax Section Chair Joan Arnold said in a press release that, “The creation of the new Vice Chair position reflects the importance we are placing on membership and diversity. I am thrilled that Caroline has been nominated to fill the position. I know firsthand her ability to create a vision and implement it. I look forward to the progress we will make under her leadership.”
In this role, Ciraolo “will work to fulfill the goals of the Section’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan with Section leadership and staff, as well as with two key Section committees: the Diversity Committee, which focuses on diversity-related programming at Section meetings and the Diversity in the Profession Committee, which addresses diversity and inclusion matters at the highest Section leadership levels.”
Ciraolo noted her commitment to diversity in the tax bar, saying, “Bringing more diversity to the tax bar is essential to eliminating lingering implicit and institutional biases and making the tax bar inclusive of a wider variety of opinions and experiences. That’s why I am honored to serve in this new role and grateful for the opportunity to work with my colleagues throughout the tax bar to prioritize and enhance diversity and inclusion in the Section and the tax profession as a whole. I look forward to collaborating with individuals, organizations, and other stakeholders, and I encourage everyone to come forward with their ideas to accomplish this objective.”
A former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, Ciraolo also was recently named President of the American College of Tax Counsel and she is the outgoing chair of the Tax Section’s Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committee.
