{"id":32501,"date":"2019-05-08T10:20:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T14:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=32501"},"modified":"2019-05-28T13:07:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T17:07:40","slug":"naba-celebrates-achievements-new-recognition-for-fiu-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2019\/05\/naba-celebrates-achievements-new-recognition-for-fiu-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"NABA celebrates achievements, new recognition for FIU chapter."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NABA<\/p>\n

When Ken Bouyer looked around his starting class of 130 at Ernst & Young in 1990, he noticed only four other faces resembling his, filling him with doubt about whether he\u2019d made the right decision and could succeed at such a place.<\/p>\n

Without knowledge of any professional organizations catering to them, the five would sneak off to Houlihan\u2019s restaurant once a month for the camaraderie it offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left at different times because we didn\u2019t want people at the firm to think we were trying to take over,\u201d Bouyer quipped. \u201cI started learning a lot from people who looked like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, he told student members of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) from FIU, UM and FAU, such camaraderie is easy to find, thanks to the now-robust organization.<\/p>\n

\"NABA<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are all family,\u201d Bouyer told the students. \u201cYou will soon be in this profession and will need your brothers and sisters to call upon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bouyer spoke at an evening meeting hosted by NABA FIU at the Special Events Center at FIU\u2019s MMC on March 25, 2019 honoring corporate NABA sponsors (including the Big Four accounting firms, with representatives all in attendance). As the keynote speaker, Bouyers referred throughout his talk to living NABA\u2019s inspirational motto, \u201cLifting As We Climb.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are counting on you to lift the next generation,\u201d Bouyers said. \u201cThere are a number of people in your lives who took time to lift you. You owe them to be great. Average is your enemy; complacency will kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

NABA, he said, offers a place to laugh and cry \u2013 and a hand to lift those who are ready to take it.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThank
\u201cThank you for reminding us why we formed the chapter in the first place,\u201d Cineus told Bouyers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCorporate America doesn\u2019t owe any of you a thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat are you bringing to the party? Some of you are getting it done. Some of you are playing video games, tweeting, partying too much. If you want to be successful, what are you willing to ante up?\u201d<\/p>\n

One essential ingredient to success, he said, is grit. \u201cYou will get punched in the face along your journey. The question is, do you have the fortitude to get back up? Are you tough?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYES!\u201d the crowd bellowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYES!\u201d they responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NABA<\/p>\n

FIU professor Antoinette Smith<\/a> helps her students reach for the moon, taking on the role of NABA faculty advisor last year. \u201cI have so much to be grateful for,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI went to a university where I was the only minority in the classroom. I did not know about NABA. It means so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiping tears from her eyes and turning toward the corporate sponsors, she continued, \u201cPeople start saying, \u2018Hey, I got your back.\u2019 As professors, we lift people up all the time, but when corporate comes and lifts you up so you can lift other people up, that\u2019s absolutely the most amazing thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading a successful NABA relaunch. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Antoinette
Antoinette Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a dozen business students gathered last year to relaunch NABA\u2019s dormant FIU<\/a> chapter, they sought to create a support network for business students of color. \u00a0Today, under Smith\u2019s leadership, the chapter is thriving with 35-plus members that maintain a vigorous schedule, including: speakers from Big Four firms, LinkedIn profile critique sessions, leadership symposiums, career preparedness workshops and national and regional conferences.<\/p>\n

Marc Villanueva, president of NABA Miami, remembers how impressed he was when he visited as the FIU chapter launched. He told the students they were carrying on the legacy of an organization founded in 1969 to provide support during a tumultuous time in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took it from there and built this from the grass roots,\u201d he said. \u201cNow they have a place to polish themselves professionally and connect with each other, to prepare to be the leaders of tomorrow in accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n

To top off the year, the FIU NABA members headed to the organization\u2019s FY19 Q3 Board of Directors Meeting in New York City.\u00a0 At this meeting, NABA FIU was declared an official NABA Chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a welcoming ceremony at the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase, and they focused on their vision to make the company a more inclusive workplace,\u201d said Wadley Cineus, NABA FIU vice president of corporate relations. \u201cThey said they depend on student chapters like ours to help them bring more diversified talent to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n