Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell (CBM) has made a $3,250 donation to the National Association of Black Accountants National Scholarship Program. The contribution represented a dollar-for-dollar match to individual team member donations to various organizations that support Black health, education, rights and community development for a total donation of $6,500.
The initiative was launched by CBM D-PATH, the firm’s diversity and inclusion group, a response to the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and countless others—some recognized in the media, others not—affected before and after him.
“We decided we needed to do more than just talk about this tragic death,” said Pat Drolet, CPA, PFS, CBM board chair and founder of CBM D-PATH. (D-PATH is an acronym for “Diversity – Professional Accountants and Advisors Transforming the Horizon”). On June 18, CBM announced to team members that those who pledged financial support to any number of charities would have funds matched by the firm for another donation to the National Association of Black Accountants.
National Association of Black Accountants and Other Organizations
Throughout the initiative, which ended July 31, team members donated to such organizations as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the Equal Justice Initiative, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Innocence Project, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund, Marquette University, Institute for the Transformation of Learning and Dr. Howard Fuller, a civil rights activist among others.
“Our nation has been involved in a difficult conversation on race relations,” said Peter B. Reilly, CPA, CVA, president and managing partner of CBM. “We saw an opportunity to show our support for those involved in a struggle for a greater, more equal community. CBM has long appreciated the value that diverse perspectives and backgrounds bring to our firm.”
Earlier this year, CBM was recognized for the second consecutive years as a top firm for equity leadership by the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance’s Accounting MOVE Project. The project publishes an annual report recognizing those firms that demonstrate outstanding strides in diversity and inclusion. Forty-four percent of the firm’s leadership are women; 65% of the entire staff is female and 30% of the team is represented by minorities.
CBM actively recruits for women and minority candidates interested in contributing their talents to the firm. Click here to learn more.
Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell (CBM) is a professional services firm delivering tax, accounting and business advisory expertise throughout the Mid-Atlantic region from offices in Bethesda, MD and Washington, DC.
