CLA Teams with National Association of Black Accountants to Promote Industry Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

CLA and NABA commemorate relationship with ribbon-cutting ceremony at new shared office space

Washington DC, Sept. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), one of the leading professional services firms in the United States, today announced a corporate sponsorship with the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) to help fuel the organization’s mission to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the profession. As part of this sponsorship, CLA is providing office space to NABA in its Greenbelt, MD location. CLA and NABA will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the shared space to celebrate.

“We are excited to have CLA as a strategic connection to advance our shared vision of increasing DEI in the accounting and finance industries,” said NABA President and CEO Guylaine Saint Juste. “Jen Leary is a tremendous ally and together we are committed to putting equitable recruitment, hiring, and promotion processes in place to grow the representation of Black accounting professionals at all levels of the field.”

“We’re honored to work alongside NABA to foster meaningful change in our industry, as well as to improve diversity and representation within our own organization,” said CLA CEO Jen Leary. “Our work will aim to give diverse individuals a more prominent voice and elevate how our CLA family embraces all individuals in an inclusive way, supporting and valuing the contributions of each CLA family member.”

Through its work with NABA, CLA seeks to accelerate its recruiting of Black individuals, increase workforce diversity, expand its pool of talent, and improve the representation of Black individuals within the accounting profession which, according to NABA, currently stands at only 5,000 out of 650,000 CPAs in the United States.

“We recently celebrated NABA’s 50^th anniversary and are proud that we’ve remained committed to building leaders that will shape the future of accounting and the finance profession,” said Saint Juste. “Aligning with an organization like CLA will help support our mission to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within our communities for the next 50 years.”

In addition to the corporate sponsorship, CLA compliance and ethics director April Sherman was asked to lead NABA’s newly created Ethics Task Force. As part of this role, April will create a code of ethics for the national organization.

For more information about CLA’s DEI approach, please visit: www.claconnect.com/who-we-are/dei

About NABA

The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA, Inc.), is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for Black professionals in the accounting, finance and related business professions. Representing more than 200,000 black professionals in these fields, NABA advances people, careers, and the mission by providing education, resources, and meaningful career connections to both professional and student members, fulfilling the principle of our motto: Lifting As We Climb.

About CLA

CLA exists to create opportunities for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services. With 7,400 people, more than 120 U.S. locations, and a global affiliation, we promise to know you and help you. For more information, visit CLAconnect.com. Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor.

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CONTACT: Jackie Kruger CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) 612-376-4623 jackie.kruger@CLAconnect.com