Poet Maya Angelou wrote that, “When people show you who they are, believe them.” What better way to show the world who you are than through action?
That’s what KPMG LLP says employees show in their community outreach efforts. The firm, they say, isn’t defined by words, statements or promises but by how it treats clients and engages the community. That engagement earned it special recognition among medium-size companies on this year’s Business Journal Civic 50 list.
The Right Thing
The KPMG network was formed in 1987 with the merger of Peat Marwick International and Klynveld Main Goerdeler. Its roots are in the industrial revolution of the late 19th century, an era not unlike our own, when rapidly changing social norms were cause for some disquiet.
From the start, Peat Marwick founding father William Barclay Peat, the P in KPMG, believed in acting on issues, not because it was expedient or would add to the firm’s bottom line, but because it was the right thing to do, says a history on the firm’s website. At the turn of the 20th century when he was president of a professional chartered accountants association, Peat championed allowing women to join the organization, a bold stance at the time. Then 20 years later, his son was among the first to hire female accountants.
Like William Peat, founding partner James Marwick, the M in the firm’s name, had a strong sense of social justice, the company says. In 1924, he co-founded Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, where retired pastors could live out their lives cared for and in comfort. The residence still exists today, now open to all in need of skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care.
Core Values
With a foundation like that, it’s little wonder that so many years later, KPMG says it’s still committed to serving the community. Over the years, it developed core values to guide action. Leadership, cooperation, respect, communication, communication and above all, integrity, have steered it as it established itself among the top four accounting firms in the world.
Just as important, the values have guided KPMG as it seeks to make a long-lasting positive difference. Its corporate citizenship initiatives include volunteerism and corporate giving through the KPMG Foundation. It also created various long-term strategic relationships with Orange County-based nonprofit groups, among them Human Options, Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire, Orange County Food Bank, CureDuchenne, United Way, Illumination Foundation and the Orangewood Foundation. All of the efforts share the goal of unlocking potential for those facing difficult, often unimaginable challenges.
Eye on Tomorrow
If there’s an area of particular importance to the firm, it’s youth, education and sustaining local communities through workplace readiness.
“This is a long-term strategic investment,” Orange County Managing Partner Mark Clemens said. “We understand and value the benefits of a foundation of education and life-long learning. It can be the key to unlocking potential and sustaining our communities through workforce readiness.”
To that end, it created companywide initiative Family for Literacy, which focuses on children’s literacy. Each KPMG market office donates books for underprivileged children in economically challenged schools in the surrounding community.
The program is self-funded via employee fundraisers, such as jeans days and in-office auctions, to raise money for books or buy them outright and donate them to the cause. The U.S. arm of the program has donated over 4 million books. The Orange County office donated more than 1,000 to Taft Elementary School in Santa Ana, and employees also engage directly with the children, visiting the school, reading to the children, and helping them choose books to keep.
KPMG’s long-standing commitment to youth reaches far beyond the elementary school level. “We support students at each stage of their academic career,” Clemens said.
It’s partnered with nonprofit Junior Achievement to help middle-school students learn financial literacy, KPMG volunteers acting as instructors. Last year, KPMG helped the organization revamp its entire curriculum. In 2011, it teamed with the National Academy Foundation to strengthen high school accounting education, introducing a new generation to the field. KPMG’s relationship with Enactus, an organization that connects student, academic and business leaders, has paired KPMG volunteers with college-age students with a flair for entrepreneurial pursuits.
“Through our ongoing collaborations with nonprofits that share our long-standing commitment to youth and education, we address an essential societal need,” Clemens said, “[as well as] fill the talent pipeline with leaders who will be uniquely prepared to embrace the challenges of a global marketplace.”
Corporate giving and volunteering have been shown to increase morale, create a strong positive culture, and foster a sense of purpose.
“Ultimately, we need to make a positive impact in the areas where we work and live, and have a sense of stewardship,” Clemens said, “and make this place a better place than when we arrived.”
