An Important Message to Members from Brett A. Sokolow
Brett Sokolow, JD
October 25, 2022
Dear Members,
I am writing to you about an important matter and our desire to be transparent about it to all of you. You have shown great trust in us as an association and I want to reflect that same trust with each of you.
I know that some of you pay attention to ATIXA governance, and others of you don’t or are unfamiliar with our structure. ATIXA is managed by the firm TNG Consulting, LLC
Three years ago, I stepped out of the CEO role at TNG to focus almost all of my time and energy on ATIXA. TNG hired Marti Kopacz as CEO, because of her background in accounting and finance. We were very pleased to be led by a strong, capable woman who had led other consulting ventures successfully. In September, we had to part ways with Marti, and I have stepped back in to serve as Chair the newly-created TNG Management Committee, in addition to my role Chairing the ATIXA Advisory Board, a position I have held since our founding in 2011.
These shifts helped motivate the staff changes at ATIXA that were announced last month. These are seen as positive changes internal to TNG, but all change like this is disruptive for any organization. Now Marti has enhanced that disruption by filing a lawsuit against TNG and me in federal court. She alleges that she was a whistleblower to various forms of misconduct within TNG. We strongly dispute her allegations, so I suppose she is attempting to leverage a settlement by trying to embarrass us. Every organization has personnel challenges, and now ours are being made public.
In response to Marti’s allegations, I will simply share with you that TNG is subject to a rigorous external audit every single year, by BakerTilly. TNG has been given clear audits every single year, which should shed considerable light on the validity of Marti’s claims.
While I will not discuss the reasons for Marti’s separation here, they will become clear once we file our defense to the suit.
TNG and ATIXA are honorable organizations that operate with integrity. Her claims relate only to TNG, and do not pertain to ATIXA in any way.