Creating a More Inclusive Middle Market

Cultural movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have shined a light on diversity, a topic that’s now top of mind for HR departments across industries, including finance.

Diversity spans a range of dimensions, including gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, educational background, geography and previous work experience. The finance industry’s poor track record on diversity is well-reported, but that’s starting to change as firms recognize that being more inclusive means adding talented people from all backgrounds. Through new programs and initiatives, ACG is playing a role in the industry’s evolution.

Women are among the underrepresented groups in financial services. For the industry to attract and retain talent, women need the same access to strong networks, advancement opportunities and mentorship as their male colleagues. With its dedicated women’s groups and programs, ACG is helping to meet that need. During my nearly 15 years as an ACG member, I’ve seen the number of women at our events steadily increase—a positive sign of change to come in the broader industry.

ACG has also been a place for young professionals to get a foothold in finance and advance in their careers. I started attending ACG events in my mid-20s, when I was the CFO of a steel company, and I found it to be a great place to learn and build relationships. I’m encouraged to see the age diversity in our association, driven in part by the 27 ACG chapters that offer young professional memberships. To support this trend, the ACG Global board recently restructured membership dues to help chapters reduce fees for young professionals.

Beyond promoting diversity in a traditional sense, ACG is broadening the types of members it serves by adding new programming for those focused on corporate development. A number of ACG chapters have created peer networks for development officers. To complement those initiatives, ACG Global will hold its first national Strategic Acquirer Summit in Dallas on Nov. 4-5 with peer-to-peer networking and sessions on M&A best practices. More information is available on our website, acg.org.

This marks my final letter as chairman of the board for ACG. As is the natural flow, on Sept. 1 my term will end and Martin Okner, president and COO of dpHUE, will assume the role. It has been a pleasure serving as your chairman, and I look forward to continuing my ACG involvement and watching the association evolve further to serve our diverse middle-market M&A community.

This letter originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Middle Market Growth.