Over the years, KPMG has been helping Step Up inspire women to inspire girls in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago through event sponsorships & ticket purchases, matching gifts, volunteerism and in-kind support through hosting events and pro bono printing.
KPMG first began supporting Step Up in Los Angeles in 2011 through their sponsorship of the annual Inspiration Awards luncheon. And in 2014, they were honored at that very event for all they’d contributed to the organization.
In 2013 and 2014, KPMG has hosted Step Up’s annual Women Making History panel in Chicago.
The 2014 theme was Celebrating Women of Courage, Character and Commitment and the lineup at Chicago’s KPMG offices included:
Dolores Kunda, founder, Lapiz Integrated Hispanic Marketing
Stephanie Neeley, City of Chicago Treasurer
Diane Pearse, SVP of operations & merchandising, Redbox
Melanie Witt, partner, Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C.
Step Up CEO Jenni Luke moderated. The event also featured a panel of Step Up alumnae who shared some of their lessons learned with regard to courage, character and commitment. See photos here. Get the inside scoop from Jenni's experience moderating the panels in her Step Up blog column Modeling School.
In early 2014 in New York, KPMG graciously hosted a Step Up Open House. Luminary member Zoe Bogan (pictured below) is on the leadership council of KPMG's Network of Women (KNOW) and is a passionate advocate of Step Up, which is why she 'stepped up' to engage KPMG in hosting an Open House to recruit new members, donors and supporters. Women from both inside and outside the company gathered to learn more about they can help underserved teens in their community fulfill their potential.
In addition to hosting the Open House, KPMG also provided in-kind printing support for the annual gala, Power Hour.
In the summer of 2014, KPMG also hosted Step Up teen interns in New York and Los Angeles. Here’s what Ramata who interned at KPMG in New York had to say about the experience after her first few days:
"My first week at KPMG has been awesome so far. I've been doing a lot of exciting things like being a receptionist for a day. There is actually more to picking up the phone than I thought. I also got the chance to work in the conference services room where you cater breakfast for meetings, and connect laptops to projectors for presentations and meetings. Next week I'll be doing a project in the Audit department. The people at KPMG are very generous and kind I can't believe I know half of the 37th floor already -- well, only by faces and a couple by their name."
Also in 2014 in Los Angeles and 2015 in New York, KPMG hosted Step Up teens for a day of career exploration through the Pathways to Professions program for 11th graders. Did you know that accounting ranks No. 1 among industries offering jobs to recent college graduates?
The employees at KPMG gave Step Up teens concrete, easy-to-understand examples of what accounting is, and how it works both as an industry and as a role within a company. They shared that math is only part of what you have to be good at to succeed; accounting is also about relationship-building with clients. Speed networking activities help exposed the girls to a number of a mentors. And of course, prizes helped to recap the day! See photos here. As a token of our appreciation for KPMG’s continued and growing support of Step Up, they were honored at the Inspiration Awards 2014 alongside Zoe Saldana, and Variety’s editor-in-chief Claudia Eller. Managing Director Erin Collins (pictured below) accepted the award on the company’s behalf. Erin then stepped into her new role as co-chair of the Step Up Los Angeles Chapter Board in 2015. See more photos from the 2014 Inspiration Awards here. Check out KPMG featured in Variety for Inspiration Awards 2014.
In January of 2015, KPMG and Step Up partnered on a panel focused on increasing women on boards, introducing women of all ages to the pros/cons of serving on a board (corporate/nonprofit). It was a packed house of more than 100. The panel included Step Up national board member Wendi Sturgis, who spoke both about Step Up and her service on corporate boards, and Danielle Wright, Director of Events & Meetings at KPMG and Deborah McWhinney, former executive at Citi and current member of several corporate and nonprofit boards. See photos from the event here.
KPMG also hosted and sponsored the 2015 Los Angeles Women Making History panel in Los Angeles. This year’s theme was Women Who Impact and Inspire. The panel was moderated by Los Angeles magazine editor Mary Melton and panelists included:
Suzanne Lerner, co-founder and president, Michael Stars and owner, Lerner et Cie
Hon. Nora Manella, associate justice, 2nd district, California Court of Appeal
Vanessas Broadhurst, vice president and general manager, cardiovascular and home business units, Amgen
Claudine Cazian Britz , vice president of programming, On Air with Ryan Seacrest & iHeartMedia
KPMG is also hosting Step Up’s 2015 Young Luminaries monthly Saturday mentoring sessions in their stunning new Los Angeles office, providing girls a space to focus on getting career-ready in preparation for paid summer internships secured through Step Up.
Interested in learning more about partnerships with Step Up? Click here.
