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Jodi Kessler, recently named VPF’s Director of Tax and Global Operations, grew up believing she would have a career in criminal justice. After enrolling in a required tax course in law school, she completely changed her trajectory. “One of my textbooks had a map that showed the complete workings of the tax system, and it was the size of my office wall,” Jodi recalled. “My brain immediately thought it was fun – figuring out the connections and how everything worked.”

This moment led Jodi to a career advising on tax in higher education. From being the only tax professional at The Ohio State University, to working with teams of tax professionals at Harvard, Jodi has had the opportunity to experience many facets of tax policy throughout her career. After joining MIT in 2016, she has taken on positions of increasing responsibility on VPF’s Tax team.

She now steps into the VPF Director of Tax and Global Operations role after serving as Assistant Director for Tax. In this position, she directs two VPF teams with complementary goals–managing federal, state, local, and international taxes for the Institute and advising MIT programs with global components or employees working abroad.

“We’re fortunate at VPF because the Tax and Global Operations teams have both finance and legal professionals,” Jodi reflects. “One of the biggest misconceptions about tax law is that all tax professionals are certified public accountants. You do not have to have a finance background to understand tax. Tax law is interpreting the rulebook, while accounting is the process of determining how to perform the calculations with respect to the rulebook. We have a team that can interpret the rules and knows how to implement them so we can ensure MIT complies with all tax and other authorities in the U.S. and internationally.”

In addition to her responsibilities at the Institute, Jodi also serves on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC), one of thirty-three members of the public who meet quarterly with the IRS and advise on how to improve its interaction with taxpayers. She is part of the tax-exempt and government entity subcommittee of IRSAC, representing the college and university sector. She was nominated for the IRSAC committee by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). She also serves on the NACUBO Tax Council and received the NACUBO 2022 Tax Award for her commitment to higher education tax advocacy and educational programming.

Jodi takes this leadership role during rapid changes in tax policy. From remote work to expanded international agreements and ongoing tax code changes, the field of tax continues to increase in complexity. “We get 200 pages of new tax legislation every year now, which we have to digest quickly to stay on top of everything,” says Jodi. Just as she was not daunted by the complex map of the tax system, she views the changing landscape as her next big challenge – “It’s what keeps me engaged!”