I read a post this week from my friend, Kimberly Ellison Taylor. She said, “My term as Immediate Past Chairman of AICPA ended on May 21st, but my desire to advance our profession’s pipeline is steadfast.”
I am very grateful, for many reasons.
I am grateful for the leadership Kimberly has given to our profession for many years, starting in our state of Maryland and leading to her role as the first Chairman of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the joint venture between the AICPA and CIMA.
In those roles, I am grateful for her passion. If you have ever been within a 100 yard radius of Kimberly, you’ve experienced that passion, her energy and her tremendous impact on the profession and on countless individuals, including me.
Did you know that Kimberly decided at the age of eight that she wanted to be a CPA, all because a CPA took the time to visit her elementary classroom and talk about their career in accounting?
Then at the age of 16, Kimberly took her first Accounting course and loved it. She admits that Intermediate Accounting and Cost Accounting tested that love, but she remained committed thanks to the foundation that was set by her High School Accounting Program at Carver Vocational Technical High School in Baltimore.
Two years later, Kimberly was chosen valedictorian of her high school and accepted a full scholarship to attend the University of Maryland Baltimore County. UMBC did not have an accounting program but she found another love, information systems. Little did she know, this would be the perfect marrying of skills in the 4th Industrial Revolution. Kimberly then received an accounting certificate from the Community College of Baltimore County to obtain the additional credits she needed to sit for the CPA exam.
Kimberly became a CPA and continued her love for learning, going on to obtain an MBA from Loyola University Maryland in addition to a Chief Information Officer certificate and a Masters in IT from Carnegie Mellon.
Clearly, she is committed to life-long learning. She is also committed to inspiring the next generation of our profession.
But what I’m most grateful for is Kimberly’s desire to develop the full, diverse and future ready pipeline for our profession. Telling that story is important to the work I do everyday and what I hope every CPA will join me to developing.
Kimberly,
Thank you for your energy, that lights up any room you walk into.
Thank you for your service and commitment to our profession that inspires me everyday.
Thank you for your passion for the future of the CPA profession.
I can’t wait to see the impact you will make next.
Ps. If you haven’t already, check out this video of Kimberly’s story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRSndP0o3I0