'Big' 3 Reach Out to NYC High Schools

By Bill Pape, Director of Member Services

The Manhattan/Bronx Chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs and the New York City chapters of the Alliance of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) and of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) have teamed up to reach out to New York City high schools.

The goal of the initiative is to schedule speaking engagements with as many New York City public and private high schools as possible. All three organizations share a common vision of greater minority participation in the CPA profession. Eighty-four percent of the students attending the New York City public school system are classified as nonwhite or minority.

To launch the initiative, the NYSSCPA sent a letter out to all New York City public high school counselors, seeking their interest in scheduling classroom visits. The letter also noted that the Society could provide an AICPA-produced accounting curriculum, and introduced them to the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) program, which has two New York City–based programs, at Long Island University and Pace University.

The second phase occurred most recently on Tuesday, Dec. 9, when volunteers from all three organizations met at the Society’s headquarters in the evening for a “Train the Speaker” program. The program featured a focused presentation by Steven Mendez, current president of the ALPFA Chapter; Marcy Bajusz, a member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter’s executive board; Jacqueline Caidedo, director of events for ALPFA; and Veda Stanley, president of the New York City NABA chapter.

In the future, the program will progress with direct contact with the high school counselors who responded to the initial correspondence, and further outreach to the schools that did not respond.

Interested persons may contact William Pape, Director of Member Relations, at 212-719-8420 or via e-mail at wpape@nysscpa.org.

Close