IMA Unveils Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit
Montvale, N.J., June 3, 2020 – IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants), the association of accountants and financial professionals in business, today released its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Toolkit. Created by IMA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and supported by IMA staff, the D&I Toolkit will be available for any individual or business looking to incorporate inclusivity into their organization.
The D&I Toolkit includes best practices and a continuum to assess a company’s current efforts in D&I, key questions to ask before embarking on a D&I initiative, rules of engagement, and KPIs and metrics that can be used to measure D&I efforts. This can be used at any point in an organization’s D&I journey to assess its current state and where it wants to be.
“Diversity and inclusion should be ongoing at organizations and continue to innovate and evolve,” said Karmin Bailey, member of the IMA D&I Committee and primary author of the D&I Toolkit. “The D&I Toolkit is designed to be a starter pack or a checkpoint for companies looking to take the next step in not only recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion, but making it a larger part of its strategic plan as well.”
Building a D&I Toolkit is the next step in IMA’s D&I initiatives which began with the creation of the D&I Committee and a D&I Statement. This then evolved with the appointment of Linda Devonish-Mills as the association’s first Director of Diversity and Inclusion in July 1, 2018 and the changing of IMA’s D&I Statement into a D&I Commitment.
D&I has become a central initiative at IMA with staff involvement, partnerships with organizations, and taking D&I into consideration with every decision made. For the first time in its history, IMA’s Board of Directors for FY21 will be more than 50 percent female.
IMA recently used a D&I assessment tool from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) to assess its progress and identify areas of improvement.
“ASAE’s assessment tool helped us to evaluate how to incorporate D&I into various areas of operation,” said Mills. “It also inspired us to put together our own D&I Toolkit to serve both the larger management accounting community and business professionals in all industries. Our hope is that organizations take advantage of this free Toolkit and make positive changes in the D&I space.”
IMA’s D&I Toolkit is available for download on its website.
About IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants)
IMA®, named the 2017 and 2018 Professional Body of the Year by The Accountant/International Accounting Bulletin, is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) and CSCA® (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) programs, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 125,000 members in 150 countries and 300 professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Middle East/India. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.