IMA Partners with Leading Accounting Organizations to Encourage Diversity

Thanks to a new partnership between IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants), AAA (American Accounting Association), NABA Inc. (formerly the National Association of Black Accountants), CalCPA (California Society of Certified Public Accountants), CAQ (Center for Audit Quality), and Gleim Exam Prep, a pilot program in California will aim to encourage Black students to pursue accounting as a profession and Black professionals to consider sharing their experiences in the accounting classroom. IMA’s support of the program reflects the association’s longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the program’s primary goal to increase the number of Black and African American individuals who are fluent in accounting and the language of money, business, and wealth.

Under the partnership agreement, the six organizations will combine their resources for outreach to Black students and to professionals for teaching roles in California. Pending the success of this pilot program, it can eventually expand to other demographic groups and geographies.

“One of our objectives is to reduce inequities by exposing participants in this program to the life-changing outcomes that the accounting profession can provide. Our hope is that Black students and professionals will take advantage of our program’s resources to remove barriers, choose accounting as a career path, and in turn, thrive in their careers and lives,” said Loreal Jiles, vice president of research and thought leadership at IMA.

The program will comprise four exclusive tracks that will aid participants in their success: three student tracks—the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) track, which will map out a career in management accounting and ready participants to become CMAs; the CPA track, which will map out a career in public accounting and ready participants to become CPAs; the leadership track to help participants become business leaders; and one faculty track, which will include faculty development from AAA and assist in the practitioner-to-faculty transition.

All of the tracks will include complimentary memberships to the respective relevant organizations in the partnership, along with resources and exposure to Black business leaders and faculty. Participants in the CMA and CPA tracks will receive access to courses from Gleim Exam Prep, a leader in the accounting exam prep space and trusted by candidates for more than 45 years.

The pilot program implements actionable solutions from the April 2022 Diversifying Global Accounting Talent: Actionable Solutions for Progress report from IMA, CalCPA, and IFAC (International Federation of Accountants), in which all other organizations in this pilot program partnership were involved, and are directed toward attracting diverse talent with various types of campaigns. This program implements specific actionable solutions from that report and responds to the research’s key call to action: advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

Applications for the program will open in January 2023. To learn more about the program, including application details, visit the NABA Inc. website.