The DE&I Commitment: Research, Best Practices & Confronting the Diversity Gap.

• Author: Simitian, Rich
• Position: In My Opinion

Fostering a more accessible and inclusive environment throughout the profession is a shared responsibility, and CalCPA aims to lead by example by following good practice with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), embedding them into our vision, mission, core values and strategic plan, and establishing metrics for success. We also plan to provide members and partners with guidance, programs, tools and resources to help them with their own journeys to good DE&I practices.

Recendy I shared how CalCPA's DE&I Commission, led by former CalCPA Chair Kathy Johnson, CPA, CGMA, has made significant strides with plans to set measurable goals, deliverables and actionable solutions to help CalCPA achieve these desired outcomes.

When we announced the DE&I commitment nearly a year ago, we knew that meaningful progress would require a shared effort among CalCPA's volunteer leadership, members, partners and firms. And that shared responsibility--some might even say obligation or duty--exists with our peer group of accountancy bodies in the larger ecosystem. This includes state CPA societies, as well as other professional accounting associations and standard setters. Individually, we can each have some impact, but together, a focused effort has the potential to change perspectives more broadly, drive meaningful actions and achieve positive results.

To that end, CalCPA has partnered with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), a global body serving management accountants in business and industry, along with IFAC, several state CPA societies, NABA and ALPFA, to deliver groundbreaking new research on DE&I practices across the U.S. accounting profession.

Our research results were released in March and point to a diversity gap at the senior leadership levels of our profession that needs to be closed through actionable solutions--solutions on which we are continuing to partner in the coming months. Later this year, we plan to issue a new report containing guidance, best practices, metrics and suggested solutions for the profession to use in forming DE&I strategies, practices and programs.

Our DE&I commitment doesn't stop there. Outgoing CalCPA Chair Jolene Fraser has been a great supporter of these efforts focused on transforming our profession, and I would like to...