Firms giving back: REDW pledges $25K for Native American students

To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, Top 100 Firm CohnReznick has planned a number of initiatives, including:

· A firmwide social media campaign to raise awareness of and commitment to gender diversity. Employees are encouraged to wear purple and share content with hashtags such as "#CRWomenCAN," "#BalanceforBetter" and "#IWD2019." The CohnReznick office with the most social media posts (relative to their size) will have a firm-sponsored donation made to a women’s charity organization of their choice.

· Twelve offices will support local women-focused organizations via toiletry drives, financial donations and clothing drives.

· Local CohnReznick offices will host local charitable collections, IWD celebrations and the creation of a “Wall of Progress” to celebrate women’s achievements and allow employees to share thoughts on what progress in gender equality means to them.

· A blog where CohnReznick leaders from across the firm can describe how they are committing to self-directed activities designed to achieve gender balance.

"Throughout my career, I’ve found that Transactional Advisory Services practices at accounting firms have been male-dominated, with few women staying long-term because of the job demands with long hours and travel," stated Claudine Cohen, principal and northeast market leader at CohnReznick. "We’ve taken steps [at CohnReznick] that are changing that model. I’m proud to say that half of our TAS partners are women with young kids who serve as role models to other women looking to advance their careers. And about a third of our entire TAS team are women, in all roles from senior associate to managing director."

Big Four firm EY is marking the 10th anniversary of its College Mentoring for Access and Persistence program, a corporate volunteer initiative that provides thousands of students with professional mentors and access to higher-education resources.

Since 2009, College MAP has impacted local communities and students by:

· Helping 1,800 high school and college students in need with the help of 1,600 EY professionals;

· Offering 140,000 hours of mentorship from EY professionals in the 37 cities with active College MAP programs;

· Aiding 99 percent of College MAP scholars in graduating high school, with 90% of those students enrolling in college;

· Awarding $2.5 million in college scholarships to College MAP students through the EY Foundation.

Southwest CPA firm REDW announced on Monday that it has made a $23,000 financial commitment to the American Indian Graduate Center, which provides educational assistance and resources to American Indian and Alaska Native college students throughout the United States.

The REDW Native American Scholarship in Accounting, which was previously offered in 2014, will promote accounting and finance degrees to undergraduate and graduate Native American students. Overseen by the AIGC, the scholarship will be funded via an annual commitment of $5,750 over the next four years.

“We’re thrilled to once again partner with AIGC to help advance the educational ambitions of new generations of Native Americans seeking higher education,” stated Corrine Wilson, REDW principal, national tribal services leader and member of the Ft. McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of Nevada. “Establishing this scholarship is important to REDW, but has a special meaning to me personally. Through the work we’ve done with tribal governments and their enterprises for more than three decades, we understand firsthand how a scholarship given to someone wanting a career in accounting and finance can benefit not only the individual student, but can ultimately enrich the quality of life for a tribal community.”

The scholarship's goals are twofold: to encourage more Native American students to pursue degrees in accounting or finance, and to develop a REDW talent pool for the firm’s internship program and national tribal services team.

“We are honored to have this partnership with REDW,” said Angelique Albert, executive director of the American Indian Graduate Center, in a statement. “Their commitment to Indian country has long been noted and we look forward to this program supporting more American Indian and Alaska Native students in the accounting and finance fields.”