WIEC workshops help firms make the business case for women's initiatives.

• Position: Women's Initiatives Executive Committee - Dialogue with Lisa Fitzgerald - Interview

The AICPA Women's Initiatives Executive Committee's Retaining & Developing Women Leaders: Organizational Strategy Workshop is a two-day event that will take place in Chicago on October 17 and 18. The strategic sessions are designed to help firms create their own personalized roadmaps for groundbreaking women's initiatives. In this article, Lisa Fitzgerald, Director of HR at Eide Bailly, talks about the many benefits of her firm's participation in a previous workshop. Eide Bailly is based in the Midwest and has nearly 1,200 professionals in its 19 office locations. Twenty-two percent of its roughly 165 partners are female.

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WIEC: Tell us a little about what led Eide Bailly to attend the workshop?

Fitzgerald: When I first joined the firm, both the CEO and COO were talking a lot about women's initiatives, as the topic had been focused upon at several external meetings and seminars they had attended. They asked me to help them identify what, if anything, our firm should be doing as it related to attracting, retaining and advancing women to leadership ranks. So I ran the numbers on the current state of our personnel, based on rank and gender percentages, and it became clear that there was a cause for concern and room for improvement. When I heard about the workshop, I went to Dave Stende, our COO, and proposed that we both attend to understand more about what opportunities for improvement were available for our firm.

WIEC: What were your expectations leading into the workshop?

Fitzgerald: We weren't quite sure what to expect going in, but were rather amazed at what was presented and the actual tools they provided that were customized for our firm. We had never conceived of the "business case" for women's initiatives in the way that was presented, and the exercises that we went through using our firm's data created an actual business case for us. It was an eye-opening experience, and it was amazing that we were able to walk away with the tools, business case and an actual slide-deck presentation for management that we could leverage as we embarked on creating our own initiative. After the workshop, it was crystal clear what we needed to do and how to go about it.

WIEC: Out of the activities held there, what stood out for you or your firm as an area of opportunity?

Fitzgerald: I think that creating the business case was the stand-out for us during the workshop experience. It made things very clear for us and gave us the...