Something I've been reflecting on lately-and I'm curious if others see it this way-is how different the CPA role can look depending on where you sit.
I'm in the nonprofit sector. I left public accounting for a controller role at an organization with over $1B in investments and approximately $90M in annual revenue. Even at that scale, I'm often the only CPA in the room.
My role sits at the intersection of finance, operations, compliance, and strategy-and not everyone fully understands what that looks like day to day. It also means I'm responsible for ensuring we're operating in compliance, following policies, and putting the right guardrails in place. At times, it can be an emotionally taxing role..
At the same time, I care deeply about supporting the profession and advocating for the impact CPAs have across all sectors. But so many of the conversations I hear-emails, webinars, meetings-are centered around public accounting.
That work is critical, but it's not the full picture of where CPAs are making an impact.
There are so many professionals working in nonprofit, corporate, government, and other roles who may not always see their experience reflected-or feel like they're part of the broader conversation.
If we want to build a meaningful community here, I think there's an opportunity to intentionally broaden that perspective.
I'd love to hear from others:
- Do you see this gap as well?
- Where are we missing representation across different CPA career paths?
- What would make this space more valuable to you?
There's a lot of depth in this profession, and creating space for those different experiences will only make our community stronger.
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Kendall Gonzales
Staff
University of Wyoming Foundation
Laramie WY
+001 (307)766-3945
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