Newly formed commission will focus on increasing diversity in the CPA profession

The Institute recently established the National Commission on Diversity & Inclusion—a group of representatives from minority professional advocacy groups, CPA firms, and state CPA societies as well as leaders from business and industry, government, and education—to promote diversity within the accounting profession.

The formation of the group reflects the AICPA’s renewed focus on diversity within the profession and the need to increase the retention and advancement of underrepresented minorities to better reflect the clients and communities that CPAs serve.

The commission will work toward proposing AICPA strategies to increase the number of minorities in the accounting profession. This process will involve investigating the barriers to the long-term success of minorities by analyzing recruitment and retention data. In addition, the commission will closely monitor population trends and analyze the effect of these trends on both the profession and the clients CPAs serve.

Ken Bouyer, Americas director of inclusiveness recruiting at Ernst & Young, is chairman of the commission, and Kim Drumgo, director–Diversity & Inclusion for the AICPA, is vice chair of the commission. Members of the commission are:

Jeff Chin—Ascend

Peggy Dzierzawski—Michigan Association of CPAs

Lena Ellis—City of Fort Worth

Manuel Espinoza—ALPFA

Eduardo Jordan—Nolet Spirits USA

George Krull—AICPA Foundation

Richard Levychin—KBL CPAs

Kenneth Macias—Macias, Gini & O’Connell LLP

Don McCleod—Don McCleod, CPA, PC

Lisa Ong—PwC

Gail Sparks Pitts—Oakland Community College

Ed Ramos—Dwyer, Pemberton & Coulson PC

Frank Ross—Howard University School of Business
 
Ralph Thomas—New Jersey Society of CPAs

More information on the commission is available at tinyurl.com/cjjnxuz.