Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Brown Edwards' DEI Initiative

Brown Edwards strives to foster a safe work environment where diversity is welcome and to find ways to attract, develop, and retain exceptional individuals representing the diverse communities where we work and live. Our firm believes we are strongest when we genuinely listen to, and act upon, thoughts and opinions from individuals from all walks of life with different life experiences. Brown Edwards believes this openness leads to a stronger, more vibrant, workplace that will lead to even greater success for the firm and for our associates.

Our firm is taking steps to increase workforce diversity in a number of ways, including recruiting at historically black colleges and universities and on other major university campuses. We also sponsor student visas to allow foreign students the opportunity to work in the public accounting profession in the United States. In addition, Brown Edwards has formed an internal committee to evaluate and ensure that our firm does all we can to facilitate a diverse work environment.

Our Goal

Our goal is to foster an environment where employees from all backgrounds have equal career development and advancement opportunities.  We believe that focusing on DEI will create positive work environments, will create a more diverse and inclusive workforce at BE where we can build stronger internal and external relationships and help us grow and evolve into an even more desirable firm to work at and to partner with.

How We Will Accomplish Our Goal

Training

Training Our Team

Internal DEI Training
Regular, mandatory conscious and unconscious bias training to help our team remove discrimination and bias from our interactions.

Cultural Education
Expand awareness of cultural celebrations and differences in order to enhance understanding of diverse backgrounds.

Recruitment

Recruitment Efforts

Unbiased Recruitment
Focus on removing bias from our recruiting and evaluation processes.

Reward Inclusive Behavior
Add criteria to our evaluations that rewards inclusive behaviors in support of diversity and equity.

Evaluate Benefit Packages
Evaluate HR services and employee benefits packages to ensure that it provides benefit that supports diverse lifestyles and needs.

Inform & Measure

Explore the Findings

Measure Progress
Send regular surveys to team members to assess our progress in education and understanding of key DEI concepts.

Inform BE Team Members
Provide on-going updates and regular communications to the entire BE workforce as to the committee's progress and initiatives.

Inform Externally
Provide robust information about our DEI efforts on our external website to ensure that our prospective employees and clients understand our passion and commitment to this effort.
❝It’s a Brown Edwards imperative to embrace diversity, ensure equitable treatment and practice inclusion and it needs to be a focus within public accounting. I’m very pleased that our leadership is strongly supporting this important work. Ensuring that our firm is a place where every team member feels they can bring their true selves to work and where their ideas and individuality are valued, celebrated and supported is extremely important.❞
Leslie Roberts
DEI Committee Leader
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Meet Our Committee Members

Leslie F. Roberts

DEI Committee Leader

Leslie F. Roberts

DEI Committee Leader

Alexa Keeler

DEI Committee Member

Alexa Keeler

DEI Committee Member

Amy Kirk

DEI Committee Member

Amy Kirk

DEI Committee Member

Dorcas Parks

DEI Committee Member

Dorcas Parks

DEI Committee Member

Joshua Graves

DEI Committee Member

Joshua Graves

DEI Committee Member

Laura Sprouse

DEI Committee Member

Laura Sprouse

DEI Committee Member

Lisa Gibson

DEI Committee Member

Lisa Gibson

DEI Committee Member

Michael E. Fleenor

DEI Committee Member

Michael E. Fleenor

DEI Committee Member

Travis Gilmer

DEI Committee Member

Travis Gilmer

DEI Committee Member