A team of senior IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) leaders, led by IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson, CMA, CSCA, CAE, recently traveled to Brazil to reaffirm alliances and extend awareness about the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) certification. Jim Piechowski, CAE, IMA director of international operations and business development; and Lisa Beaudoin, CMA, CAE, IMA director of educational partnerships, accompanied Thomson on the five-day trip, which was organized in part by IMA’s strategic partner in Brazil, National Association of Executives in Finance, Administration, and Accounting (ANEFAC).

The team began with two corporate visits: the first to JSL, a Brazilian conglomerate logistics company headquartered in São Paulo, where they met with senior finance leaders. Next stop was a meeting at industry giant 3M, where the team made a presentation about CMA certification to more than a dozen accounting/finance young professionals, thanks to an introduction by CMA and 2017 Young Professional Award Winner Julio Damãio.

IMA leaders meet with professionals from 3M.

The team next met with educational institutions the University of São Paulo, one of the schools endorsed under IMA’s Higher Education Endorsement Program, and Mackenzie Presbyterian University, a private, highly regarded university with more than 40,000 students. The team also held meetings with leaders of ANEFAC, with which IMA this past summer signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support the advancement of management accounting and the promotion of CMA certification among finance and accounting professionals in Brazil.

Later in the trip, the team held educational sessions on the newly released COSO Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework, with one in São Paulo and the other in Rio de Janeiro. The latter was held at the headquarters of Petrobras, the semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry. During these workshops, Thomson discussed the importance of ERM and how it supports strategy and performance.

IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson speaking at the event.

It was Beaudoin’s third visit to Brazil (as well as Thomson’s second), and she already is witnessing how these visits are strengthening IMA’s presence in the region. “IMA and our CMA certification are in a unique position in Brazil,” Beaudoin explains. “There really is no other certification available for management accountants in the country, which presents us with an exceptional opportunity to raise awareness about how the CMA provides much-needed skills to accounting and finance professionals working in business.”

For more information on CMA certification, please visit https://www.imanet.org/cma-certification.