Our Marketplace
How our clients and suppliers contribute to our culture of diversity and inclusion
RSM's culture is shaped by the varied perspectives of our people and it is part of a larger mosaic—that of our profession and our society. It’s all part of embracing a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society and RSM.
Diverse Professional Organizations (DPOs)
RSM works with key DPOs, societies and associations to support inclusion and professional development in key demographics and audiences, as well as to enrich our workforce. Nationally, we have made substantial investments in the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), the Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA), Ascend (a Pan-Asian organization for business professionals), Out & Equal (an organization that works on LGBTQ workplace equality), the Global Leadership Summit (faith-based leadership training), the AICPA Women’s Global Leadership Summit, as well as accounting-focused colleges, universities and students. We also have active partnerships focused on veterans. In addition to firm-wide investments, we invest in the membership and participation of our people in these organizations.
Supplier and Vendor Diversity Programs
RSM is committed to processes and tools that support our commitment to supplier diversity and small business programs that support clients' needs and requirements and supplement our own capabilities. We have also embraced small disadvantaged business (SDB) initiatives that encourage and enable our connection to SDB partners and diverse vendors.
Our small business plan, for example, helps us meet or exceed socioeconomic targets as a percent of total contract value for government engagements. Our process identifies teaming requirements and suitable teaming partners, and enables us to identify small and disadvantaged business opportunities, establish subcontracting goals and select the most qualified candidates to support the requirements.
But our support of small and diverse businesses is not limited to those in certified disadvantaged categories by the U.S. Small Business Administration. It also includes women-, veteran- and minority-owned entities. We are evaluating vendor spending among these communities and are building a national supplier diversity program to encourage product and service purchasing from small and diverse businesses.
Diverse Clients
“Recently, we were approached by a large financial institution and publicly traded company in South Florida with diversity ingrained in its business model. Because of our investment in CDI, we brought a predominantly Spanish-speaking team to the presentation, offering not only our best-in-class technical aptitude, but unique and varied perspectives, as well. Because of shared cultural backgrounds, we related to one another on a personal level and from day one, felt a sense of belonging. We not only understood but truly cared about the issues on their minds—like the crisis in Venezuela and how it was affecting their business. This is just the beginning of the influence of the Hispanic community. We're starting to see it in the C-suite, in boards of directors and in the middle market businesses. We've got to keep investing in diversity because, frankly, it makes sense. It allows us to create not only a better talent experience, but also a better client experience.”
— Carlos Bravo, consumer products audit partner, ¡HOLA! ENG member
Association Partnerships
“Apparel industry leaders, like so many others, are looking for innovative solutions to adapt to some of the issues that they’re facing now, from sustainability to inclusion. Whether we’re talking about wage equality or how we treat our people, diversity and inclusion are a major theme in the discussion. RSM has been a great partner to the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and apparel industry in sharing best practices, creative ideas and tangible solutions that business owners can adopt for bigger, better impact.”
— Susan Lapetina, SVP of American Apparel & Footwear Association, on RSM’s presence at the 2020 American Apparel and Fashion Association Conference
our pledge
As the leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market, and the fifth largest U.S. accounting firm, we recognize our role in promoting diversity—not only at RSM, but in the communities where our people live and work, and in society at large. We manage thousands of people, work with dozens of suppliers and serve thousands of clients from Wall Street to Main Street.
We know that diverse teams perform better. And even with the progress we’ve made, we know we can do more. We must ensure the valued voices of our diverse peers are sought out, welcomed and magnified—not only at RSM, but in every part of our network, in every industry and community we touch.
For us, this means making the best choices to imagine an even more inclusive RSM, industry and world, and to achieve it at every intersection, by choosing diversity. We must create client service teams that mirror the communities and makeup of our clients. And we must have honest, open exchanges with our suppliers, vendors, clients and industry leaders to evolve our understanding of the issues and concerns of our diverse employees, the industries and communities we serve.
We must choose diversity and inclusion consistently—one choice, one step and one picture at a time—until together they form a mosaic representative of the world we live in.
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