National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) announces collaboration with the Deloitte Foundation

Grant to help diversify the CPA talent pipeline

GREENBELT, Md. (PRWEB) March 31, 2022

The National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. (NABA), a nonprofit, member-based association for accounting, finance, and business professionals, announced that it received a grant of $670,000 from the Deloitte Foundation to provide support to community college students seeking the opportunity to study accounting at an Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

The grant will support work in 2022 and 2023 focused on piloting a two to four year business degree bridge program to develop a deeper understanding of key factors to help students successfully transfer from community colleges to HBCUs and to test methods and frameworks to activate them. This funding from the Deloitte Foundation will boost NABA’s capacity to work with HBCUs towards creating sustainable pathways for racially and ethnically diverse community college students to enter the accounting profession.

The core objectives of NABA’s HBCU strategy include:

  • Accelerating the timeline for transforming the future of the accounting, finance, and business professions by investing in NABA’s existing training programs to equip future Black Business Leaders with the skills they need for success.
  • Co-designing and orchestrating platforms and collaborations that support the long-term goals articulated by both organizations and providing wrap-around services to Black students and business leaders to sustain their growth.
  • Advancing NABA’s CPA Bound program to increase the number of CPAs in the accounting field.

The Deloitte Foundation helps prepare the next generation of diverse business leaders through strategic investments at the intersection of education and equity, intentionally focused on cultivating inclusive talent with the skills and mindsets necessary for the future of work in accounting. The Deloitte Foundation grant will be directed to provide critical support for accounting students pre- and post-transfer, coaching, career training and CPA readiness programming.

NABA looks forward to the opportunities this Deloitte Foundation grant will provide, in alignment with NABA’s mission to engage, educate and empower Black professionals, students, and business leaders and increase diversity in the financial and business professions, towards helping to create a more equitable society. NABA’s new strategic framework is designed to adapt to changing industry and global trends, changes in policy, and marketplace needs.

The Deloitte Foundation grant to support NABA’s HBCU strategy is aligned with other similar investments by the Deloitte Foundation that aim to diversify the pipeline of CPA talent. Deloitte’s Making Accounting Diverse and Equitable (MADE) commitment aims to transform the future of the accounting profession, combining both financial support and resources to help address the identified barriers faced by racially and ethnically diverse students, and support them as they chart their pathway from high school to business professional to leadership in the profession.

Key Quotes

“The Deloitte Foundation’s investment in NABA acknowledges the importance of diversifying the CPA and accounting talent pipelines and the critical role community colleges and HBCUs can play in the continuum of developing future Black Business Leaders,” said Guylaine Saint Juste, NABA Inc. President and CEO. “NABA’s new organizational strategy can help students move from the classroom to the c-suite. We are honored to work with the Deloitte Foundation to drive meaningful change in the educational and financial sectors.”

“The Deloitte Foundation is excited to work with NABA to offer an HBCU education to racially and ethnically diverse community college students seeking a CPA career,” said Erin Scanlon, Deloitte Foundation president. “It is important for us to support organizations that share our goal to inspire and help propel students on their education and career pathways, while ultimately building inclusive pipelines of talent ready for the jobs of tomorrow.”

“In order to diversify the CPA talent pipeline, deliberate action must be taken to directly address many of the challenges and barriers faced by racially and ethnically diverse students,” said Lara Abrash, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte US Audit & Assurance. “We are proud to work with NABA, through the Deloitte Foundation, to increase awareness of this life changing profession and help equip students with the coaching, career training, and other skills they need for success in the accounting profession.”

About NABA

The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA, Inc.) is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for Black professionals in the accounting, finance, and related business professions. Representing more than 200,000 black professionals in these fields, NABA advances people, careers, and the mission by providing education, resources, and meaningful career connections to both professional and student members, fulfilling the principle of our motto: Lifting as We Climb. To learn more about NABA and its programs visit: http://www.nabainc.org.

About The Deloitte Foundation

The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives that help develop the next generation of diverse business leaders, and their influencers, and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum innovation. The Foundation sponsors an array of national programs relevant to a variety of professional services, benefiting high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and educators. Learn more about the Deloitte Foundation.

About Deloitte: Please see http://www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of our legal structure.