Just shy of fifty years since his assassination, we have undoubtedly made progress. However, we still face an unsettling reality where disrespectful language, aggressive rhetoric and harassing behavior continues in some corners of our society.
To advance successfully together, we must face these facts with courage and uphold Dr. King’s legacy to support respect and inclusion. Of the voices carrying his mantle, Dr. King would be proudest to know that ordinary people are increasingly empowered to echo his original messages of equality and justice. In 2017, we heard from a diverse chorus of voices in entertainment, sports, business and politics as well as our neighbors and friends.
The AICPA is committed to inclusion in the accounting profession as well as within our organization. We rely on each individual (member and employee) and their unique views of the world to make the profession stronger and better prepared for the future. We also rely on respect and equality to bolster us against any negative pressure we face as citizens in our communities.
We thank the members of the our National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion for their dedication and leadership in guiding the profession through our journey of inclusion. And we salute the many accountants and students across the world who are advocates of inclusion.
May you take this day an opportunity to not only celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, but to begin to create legacies of your own so that in 50 years you too are celebrating standing up for change.
“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Please join me, Thursday, January 17 at 1pm, ET for Global diversity: driving innovation through inclusion. This webinar will help you understand how your firm or organization can capitalize on the diversity of thought, background and experience of your team to drum up new business and innovate for the future.
Kim Drumgo, Director — Diversity and Inclusion, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and Chair of the PhD Project, an effort to advance workplace diversity by increasing the diversity of business school faculty
Martin Luther King, Jr. courtesy of Shutterstock
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Originally published by AICPA.org
