Olivia Kirtley  | 

In this video Viewpoint, Olivia Kirtley, President of the International Federation of Accountants, makes the business case for diversity and inclusion, and its importance for the accountancy profession. She notes businesses, boards, leadership, and the profession need to be diverse and inclusive—in terms of gender, ethnicity, nationality, background, experience, etc. President Kirtley calls upon the global accountancy profession to draw its next generation of leaders from the entire pool of available talent in order to achieve our greatest potential. President Kirtley also asks to hear from the profession about their successes and ideas for inclusion in the workplace and the profession. What great program have you seen that encourages diversity at the highest levels?

Additional resources and news on this vital area of development for the accountancy profession can be found on the MOSAIC website in Inclusion, Women, and Leadership.
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Olivia Kirtley

Past President, IFAC

Olivia Kirtley CPA, CGMA, became president of the IFAC Board in November 2014. She previously served as deputy president from 2012 to 2014 and was first elected to the Board in November 2007. Ms. Kirtley also served on the independent IFAC Task Force on Rebuilding Public Confidence in Financial Reporting in 2002 and 2003. Ms. Kirtley is a business consultant on strategic, risk, and governance issues. She is also a non-executive director of three public companies - U.S. Bancorp, Papa John's International, Inc., and ResCare, Inc. Ms. Kirtley spent the first decade of her career with Ernst & Ernst/Ernst & Whinney (now EY) in both audit and tax. In 1998, Ms. Kirtley was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).