Advocacy in action
Our business resource groups (BRGs) are advocates for associates and advisors on our firm’s DEI journey. Each BRG is has its own unique experience and perspective. They are unified by their commitment to diversity and their work to eliminate challenges each population faces in the work environment.
Women of Wipfli’s purpose is to cultivate an environment where women have an equitable opportunity to achieve their goals and find their version of success.
They do this by providing a mix of social, professional and personal development opportunities focused around leadership. Women of Wipfli India – Aparajita expands this support to our India office.
Wipfli Pride is made up of LGBTQ+ associates and allies dedicated to supporting an inclusive community at Wipfli and beyond.
Wipfli Pride’s vision is to aspire to be the most LGBTQ+-friendly firm in the country, where allyship and belonging is the standard.
Embrace’s purpose is to create lasting, positive impact through fostering an inclusive and equitable environment that values diversity and supports a feeling of belonging for the people Wipfli serves, employs and works with.
It elevates the voices of our associates and advocates for diverse cultures and perspectives at the firm with respect to race, color, religion and national origin.
Wipfli Valor’s mission is to create a community to honor and serve active military, veterans and their families.
Its purpose is to create intentional space for dialogue and programming that addresses the unique challenges former military members face as they transition into civilian life. Additionally, it provides opportunities to support those who have a loved one who is active-duty or former military.
Raising up community
Braven
Wipfli Embrace teamed with Braven, an organization working with colleges to help first-generation, underrepresented students develop transferable business skills, build networks and gain experiences they need to succeed professionally. Wipfli associates serve as mentors to students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to help set them up for long-term success. Having a pipeline of talent from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds gives us an opportunity to understand and serve the needs of our clients in a more authentic way.
Out in Tech and Out in Finance
Wipfli Pride became a financial supporter and partner of Out in Tech and Out in Finance. The two separate nonprofit organizations support those who are openly out in their fields. Out in Tech is the largest nonprofit community of LGBTQ+ techies worldwide. We’ve joined Qorporate, Out in Tech’s corporate council, to recruit top talent and learn from our peers. Out in Finance is a 100% volunteer-based nonprofit working to drive LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity within financial services.
Hiring Our Heroes
Wipfli Valor is taking the lead role for Wipfli in a partnership agreement with Hiring Our Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation that helps connect transitioning military service members, veterans and military spouses with American businesses through hiring events, digital programs, training fellowships and internships. This partnership enables us to develop a pipeline of talent ready to join the firm. Wipfli Valor has thus far participated in two virtual hiring events targeting accounting and technology/cybersecurity candidates.
What our associates say
85%
of associates say our organization values diversity of thought
84%
of associates say if they raised a concern about discrimination, Wipfli would do what is right
Investing through participation
Our associates made it a point to understand and connect with topics that were important to colleagues and clients, with hours of connected conversations and dollars contributed to causes that supported our DEI strategy.
16,000+
hours of DEI-related individual engagement through participation in Wipfli-sponsored events
43
business resource group leaders and sponsors who collectively spent 4,000+ hours on DEI-focused efforts
Financial support
$19,500
donated to support DEI initiatives on campuses
$15,000
awarded to students for leadership conferences
$3,000
provided to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Multicultural Mentorship Program
$2,500
given through our Elizabeth Peters Memorial Scholarship
$4,000
donated to the Mary T. Washington Wylie Internship Preparation Program
“Until I joined Wipfli, I had never been part of a company with such inclusivity. Wipfli Pride is a community filled with like-minded individuals who will always extend support to those in need. Go talk to anyone in this group. Even if you’ve never met or talked to them before, they’re probably going to listen.”
— Taylor Edwards, iSolved implementation specialist
Next: Celebrating success
Each year, we look back to reflect on how we’ve grown and created a better world for our associates, communities and clients. To learn more about our year-over-year progress, continue to our next section on firm results.
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