The AICPA Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), in collaboration with the member-facing DEI team, is connecting PCPS firms with talented accounting majors from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

How the scholarship/internship works.

• A PCPS firm applies to serve as a cosponsoring firm that provides an internship to a student during busy season 2024 (January–April)
• The accounting student applies for consideration for the George Willie Ethnically Diverse Internship & Scholarship
• AICPA leadership team selects ten firms to host an intern and each firm selects a student, who will receive both the internship and be awarded up to $10,000 from PCPS towards their tuition

Student applicants will be asked to select their top five firms from the following 2024 PCPS cosponsoring firms (listed in alpha order). Firms will select applicants to be interviewed and selected candidates will be notified by no later than June 30, 2023.

Apercen Partners L.L.C.
Apercen Partners provides tax compliance and consulting services to high-net-worth individuals and families throughout the country. Our clients include the top technology entrepreneurs and most influential investors of companies that create the technology that we all use every day. An internship at Apercen is different. It's engaging, fun and dynamic; our teams work together to build deep-rooted relationships with our clients to help them make impactful personal financial and business decisions every day. The work you see as an intern is unique and the technical skills you learn can be applied to many other areas within the accounting and finance industries. We offer a fully remote internship or interns may work a hybrid schedule if they desire. Our offices are located in CA- San Francisco, Palo Alto, Folsom, Pasadena, OR- Portland, IL- Chicago, NY-New York. We host/accommodate all interns for one week of in-person training at the start of the internship. A career at Apercen allows you to grow into a trusted advisor for your clients and leader in your professional network. You will learn from the best of the most passionate, intelligent, and approachable professionals within the professional services sector.

Bernard Robinson & Company L.L.P. (BRC)
BRC is a Certified Public Accounting and Advisory Firm with offices in Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Dunn and Wilmington, NC. We are a Balanced Responsive and Connected Firm, supporting our people, our clients and community through a culture of trust, compassion and flexibility.
For more than two decades, BRC has offered a dynamic internship program so our interns experience real world assignments in collaborating with firm team members and leaders, serving our clients across numerous industries. We offer in-person, remote, or hybrid internship opportunities that are tailored to your academic schedule as needed. You will gain exposure to both tax and audit practice areas to further enhance your educational knowledge and solidify your desire to join the public accounting profession.

Blackman & Sloop CPAs
The internship program at Blackman & Sloop is an exciting opportunity for students to enhance their skills in the fast-paced public accounting industry! We offer our interns a unique opportunity to rotate through each of our service lines: assurance, business advisory, and tax.
Interns are assigned challenging projects and tasks supervised by senior staff that ensure they are gaining understanding and valuable hands-on experience, all while enjoying the work they are performing. This in-person internship at our office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina allows students to be fully immersed in the day-to-day operations and culture of our Firm. Interns are included in all events such as staff meetings and social events and are allowed opportunities for networking and informational interviewing with key personnel and clients. At Blackman & Sloop, we believe in the “whole person” approach. Need more information? Check out or website: https://b-scpa.com/careers/students/.

Brown, Edwards & Comany, L.L.P. (BE)
Are you looking to expand your knowledge and achieve real-world experience within a dynamic, forward-thinking public accounting firm? Are you looking to do so within a collaborative, friendly, and inclusive environment? With large-firm resources and a small-firm feel, Brown Edwards enables students to work alongside successful accounting professionals to receive hands-on tax and/or audit experience. Our internships allow you to work on a variety projects, develop new skills and prepare for your own career. From the start, Interns participate in firm-wide training, followed-up with one-on-one training sessions with professionals in their office. Interns are expected to work a minimum of 15-20 hours per week, however, BE prioritizes your education first so scheduling is always flexible. Internships are available firm-wide and are typically in-office so that students achieve the best learning experience and have the opportunity to develop long-lasting professional relationships. Hybrid work schedules may be considered based upon experience.

Mazars USA L.L.P.
Mazars interns are proudly welcomed into an environment that is dynamic, exciting, and entrepreneurial. True integration into the daily activities of our firm allows Mazars interns to experience the many facets of a career in professional services, benefitting from our commitment to hands-on learning. Going beyond hands-on client work, we have robust internship programming that helps interns get acclimated to Mazars. In addition to rich work experiences, interns will join their teams in volunteer initiatives and attend culture, diversity, and inclusion events. Plus, through our employee network groups and professional development programs, they have every opportunity to develop lasting relationships with their peers and team members. At Mazars, interns are positioned to make meaningful contributions to their teams and client work from Day One.
Mazars internship opportunities are offered as hybrid (partially in-person, partially remote). Opportunities are available in the following Mazars office locations:
• New York City, NY
• Woodbury, NY (Long Island)
• Edison, NJ
• Fort Washington, PA (near Philadelphia)
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Los Angeles, CA

NOVOGRADAC®
Novogradac is a national professional services organization that consists of affiliates and divisions providing professional services that include certified public accounting, valuation and consulting with more than 25 offices nationwide. Our clients represent a broad range of industries, with a major emphasis in the real estate sector. Novogradac works extensively in the affordable housing, community development, and renewable energy industries, assisting developers, investors, lenders, attorneys, property managers, local and state housing representatives and other professionals.
Our people are accounting and valuation professionals and community development and revitalization experts who are passionate about the effective implementation of tax incentives and government programs that drive social and environmental impact. Novogradac has consulted for more than 30 years on thousands of community developments, businesses and projects and maintains client relationships with leaders in the community development and urban revitalization spaces. Novogradac has office and hybrid opportunities for accounting interns and, in some cases, we offer remote opportunities. Internship opportunities, along with locations for the 2024 busy season can be found here.
For more information about who we are, what we do, and our efforts in social impact and diversity, equity and inclusion, please visit our 2021 Social Impact Report (2022 pending).

Premier Group Services Inc
Serving as a Premier Group intern will enrich any person's resume. We challenge our interns to become productive problem solvers who approach accounting matters with an efficient methodical process focused on creating solutions. We will also help them better understand risk management related to financial auditing. To accomplish this, we will immerse the intern in a professional family environment that is optimized to sharpen their critical thinking skills and show them how to see challenges as opportunities to create intelligent sustainable solutions. After their time at Premier Group, they will have a real-world understanding of the skills required to be most useful in the accounting world. Additionally, they'll know they can accomplish more than when they first started. This is a hybrid position, interns may need to be on-site for the 1st week and then remote for the remainder of the internship. Our internship is available nationwide as we have team members all across the US.

REDW
REDW is excited to partner with AICPA and the 2024 George Willie Scholarship Program. For many years REDW has provided a robust internship program to support the talent of the future and support the CPA profession, it is a critical part of REDW’s talent strategy now and for the future. The George Willie Scholarship Program is aligned with REDW values and goals to support diversity and inclusion efforts in the CPA profession. For more about REDW’s diversity, inclusion and belonging philosophy please visit our web page; https://www.redw.com/diversity-inclusion-belonging/.
REDW will be offering a unique internship experience in primarily our Tax or Audit Departments, for the right candidate the is the potential to intern in one of our Advisory Service Lines. The internships are available in our Phoenix and Albuquerque office in person. Our Interns are exposed to a diverse client base and work, will experience different types of engagements and projects to further their learning and growth. Be ready to jump right in with client work, partnering with the team, and learning at a quick rate. Our interns have the opportunity to be a part of a dynamic team. If you're looking for a challenge and ever-changing environment, this is for you!

Smith Patrick CPAs
Joining Smith Patrick CPAs means working with a diverse group of dedicated and intelligent professionals. While each member of our team possesses a unique combination of skills and abilities, we all share the core values of integrity, professionalism, and dedication to excellent customer service. Working diligently with our clients in the tax reporting, business consulting, and wealth management fields, our firm has experienced fantastic growth and is widely recognized in the St. Louis and surrounding area. We realize that we could not have achieved this magnitude of growth without hiring the best and most highly qualified professionals. As such, we’re committed to maintaining a work environment characterized by openness and respect so that employees at all levels are able to utilize their individual talents to contribute and be a part of Smith Patrick’s success. We maintain a relaxed office environment where employees are encouraged to work together to accomplish their goals. Smith Patrick is looking for Interns in office, this is not a hybrid Internship at Smith Patrick CPAs. Internships are January-April, 20-25 hour weeks and some Saturdays are required.

Tonneson + Co
Tonneson + Co is a dynamic accounting company in Wakefield, MA, looking for students to join our growing team. If you are an accounting, finance, or business majors and are interested in pursuing an internship in public accounting at an innovative, employee-empowered firm, this is the opportunity for you.
As an intern, you will work on a variety of engagements our of our Wakefield office and get a hands-on experience of what a career in accounting looks like. We value our interns, and many of them choose to return after graduation as full-time hires. Our interns work in a hybrid environment of both in-person and remote, while working closely with a core team of managers who offer mentorship and guidance, every step of the way.
Tonneson + Co was named as one of Accounting Today’s Best Accounting Firms to Work for in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2016 and Accounting Today’s Best Firms For Women in 2021.
Come join us.

Withum
Withum’s brand is a reflection of our people, our culture and our strength. Withum has become synonymous with teamwork and client service excellence. The cornerstone of our success can truly be accredited to the dedicated professionals who work here every day, whose mission is to help our clients grow and thrive - to Be in a Position of StrengthTM. But our commitment goes beyond our clients as we continue to live the Withum Way, promoting personal and professional growth for all team members, clients, and surrounding communities.
During your internship, you will experience an immersive in-person/hybrid opportunity receiving on-the-job skills and technical training to aid in your career progression and personal branding. In addition to our coaching and peer mentorship program, you will gain valuable hands-on public accounting experience by working with a dedicated group of top professionals from any of our 24 US office locations who will share their knowledge and experience of the accounting industry.

George Willie, managing partner at Bert Smith & Co., is a former chair of the PCPS Executive Committee and the AICPA Minority Initiatives Committee.

Throughout his more than 35 years working in public accounting, George has tirelessly promoted the benefits of an accounting career. He has constantly supported high school and college students, as well as young professionals in pursuit of the CPA designation. 

George is a significant contributor to the academic activities of the student members of National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) and the Institute of the Caribbean, is a leading supporter of Howard University School of Business, has established an endowment fund for high-achieving minority students pursuing degrees in accounting at the American University Kogod School of Business, and is a prominent supporter of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies. 

George has also been recognized as NABA’s Outstanding Accounting Leader, has received NABA’s National Achievement Award in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in Public Accounting and the Diversity and Inclusion Award by the Michigan Association of CPAs. In addition, he’s been recognized as a Distinguished Alumni of both Howard University and American University, was recipient of the 2015 Caribbean Luminary Award, and was elected as an Honorary Councilor of National Council of the Philippine American Canadian Accountants, to name a few.

It is our privilege to award scholarships in George’s honor to ethnically diverse students in pursuit of an accounting degree. 

To learn more about PCPS membership, visit aicpa.org/pcps or contact us at pcps@aicpa.org.

Eligible applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Plan to pursue the CPA credential
• Be an ethnic minority student (Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native American  or Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian, Asian American or Pacific Islander; Multiethnic, etc.)
• Enrolled on a full-time basis and plan to remain enrolled full-time for the upcoming academic year 
• Completed at least 120 hours of course work and have 30 hours or fewer of upper-level accounting courses remaining prior to the upcoming academic year (working toward completing the 150-hour credit requirement for CPA licensure)
• Availability for an internship during the 2024 busy season (January – April)
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card holder)
• Be an AICPA Student Affiliate member (or have submitted a new member application). Apply online at no cost: ThisWayToCPA.com/join-AICPA

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