FEI teams with NABA to develop future Black finance execs

Financial Executives International has formed a strategic partnership with the National Association of Black Accountants to focus on professional development of future finance leaders.

Under the partnership, NABA members will initially receive a subscription to FEI Engage, a community and content hub for career development focused on finance and accounting. The goal is to increase NABA members’ ability to connect with an expanded finance network and tap into the wisdom of experienced financial professionals for learning, development and career advancement. This will be just the first step, though, in the multiphase agreement.

The finance and accounting profession has long suffered from a shortage of Black senior executives, despite the efforts of groups like the American Institute of CPAs and the Institute of Management Accountants to improve the representation of diverse groups in the profession. A study released last year by the IMA and the California Society of CPAs found that only 1% of the partners in the accounting and finance functions of CPA firms in 2018 were Black or African American, and only 1.6% of CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies in 2019.

“This partnership provides NABA’s professional and student members with an opportunity to become both mentors and mentees,” said NABA president and CEO Guylaine Saint Juste in a statement Tuesday. “We see this as a unique value to both NABA and FEI members, an opportunity to ‘lift as they climb’ and…