Diversity, Equity, and inclusion (DE&I)

Addressing challenges and seizing opportunities.

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee hosts events, provides resources, and encourages all members in our profession to support this initiative.

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COCPA

Supporting diversity, equity, & inclusion within our profession.

The Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants (COCPA) is dedicated to embracing and celebrating diversity across our community, membership, and profession. We believe that a diverse population enhances the overall vitality of our community, profession, and membership. Diversity, as we see it, encompasses individuals of various ethnicities, genders, colors, orientations, ages, abilities, and religious beliefs (among others). At the COCPA, we firmly assert that everyone belongs in our profession on equal and inclusive terms.

To support this commitment, the COCPA has established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) committee. This committee has developed webcasts aimed at sharing the stories of diverse community members, detailing their experiences with challenges, triumphs, and significant achievements. Additionally, another series of webcasts encourages community engagement through self-awareness and meditation practices. These webcasts are accessible to all and encourage participants to broaden their perspectives.

The COCPA and its DE&I committee are united in their mission to foster recognition and appreciation of diversity within the accounting profession and our membership. Through the resources provided by the committee, we strive to actively welcome and embrace diversity within our community.

Master key MBA concepts

DE&I Featured Event: See Me/For Me Series

This series broadens participants’ views of the DE&I challenges and opportunities within our community. Learn more & watch previous event recordings.

Featured Article: Hannah Gadsby on Her Autism Diagnosis

‘I’ve always been plagued by a sense that I was a little out of whack’

READ NOW

Suggested Books & Articles with DE&I Focus

Writings on the Wall, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
READ BOOK REVIEW HERE
Diversity wins: How inclusion matters, by McKinsey & Company
A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921, by Theresa A. Hammond
READ BOOK REVIEW HERE
Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation, by Hannah Gadsby
READ BOOK REVIEW HERE
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson
READ BOOK REVIEW HERE
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias, by Dolly Chugh
READ BOOK REVIEW HERE
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew, by Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony Greenwald
We Can’t Talk About That at Work! How to Talk About Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics, by Mary-Frances Winters
The Vanishing Half, by Brit Benett
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, by Austin Channing Brown
White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo
Listening is an Act of Love, by Dave Isay
Privilege, Power and Difference, 2nd Edition, by Allan G. Johnson
Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America, by the late Congressman John Lewis
So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
My Vanishing Country: A Memoir, by Bakari Sellers
In the Country of Women: A Memoir, by Susan Straight
The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border, by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schweitert Collazo. Collazo is the founder of Immigrant Families Together, the grassroots organization that reunites mothers and children. 
Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas, by Roberto Lovato
The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance, by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg

Additional DE&I Resources

CEO ACTION for Diversity & Inclusion

Building Productive, Diverse & Inclusive Workplaces

AICPA Resources

AICPA & CIMA U.S. Diversity Holidays

Non-Profit Organization

Peak Performers -Getting the Job Done, Working with Disabilities

Questions?

To learn more about COCPA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, contact Stacy Svendsen:
stacy@cocpa.org | 303-741-8613