Inspiring Future Leaders to Leave a Legacy of Excellence

A Letter From the President

What an amazing year it’s been for BAP! I was so honored to be president of this wonderful organization during its 100th year anniversary. My theme was “Inspiring Future Leaders to Leave a Legacy of Excellence.” I hoped to plant a seed in the minds of BAP stakeholders to think about what you can do for others. Our tag line became “Why do you plant a tree?” You plant a tree now so someone else will have shade in the future. That’s a way to leave your legacy.

Leaving a Legacy and the Anniversary Timeline
That concept of planting a tree led to the launch of our 100th Anniversary Tree Timeline. What a tremendous place to see the roots and branches of the BAP tree! From significant chapter events, competitions and awards, our Professional Partners, and the history of BAP in interviews and photos, every branch of each tree is a treasure trove showing the excellence of this organization! We also spent several years documenting the history of the organization. This amazing video can be used by chapters everywhere to showcase BAP and introduce potential new members to the legacy of the organization. Another way we recognized the legacy of BAP is through the KPMG/Bernard J. Milano Lifetime Achievement Award. This award celebrates stakeholders of BAP who have left a legacy through meaningful and sustained service. This year we recognized Jan Taylor Morris of Sam Houston State University and Blane Ruschak of KPMG.

100th Anniversary Celebration at the Annual Meeting
Members from all over the world gathered at the annual meeting in Chicago, IL in August. This was a tremendous event with over 1,300 attendees. The professional sessions were top notch, the competitions were fierce, and the keynote speakers left us with messages that continue to inspire those in attendance. A special thank you should go out to those who participated in our annual meeting by sponsoring competitions or awards: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, Moss Adams, Grant Thornton, RSM US, IMA and AICPA. We couldn’t do this without you. The success of this organization goes beyond academics. Our Community Service Day sponsored by KPMG LLP and the KPMG Foundation gave over 900 volunteers a meaningful way to make an impact on the local community. Thousands of school supply items and almost 1,900 books were donated by meeting attendees to go to children across the city, in connection with Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago. New this year was another Community Service Day partner, The Pack Shack. This event used the Feed the Funnel program to generate meal packages for those with food insecurity. It was wild and noisy and there was an amazing amount of hair nets in place, but by the end of the activity, volunteers generated over 100,000 meals. What a day for all involved!

The Future Expansion of Beta Alpha Psi
As part of our continued effort to Widen the Reach of BAP and to expand membership to finance and information systems as well as accounting majors, we brought on three new board members for Directors at Large focused on Finance, Information Systems and Innovation. These directors are already looking at how BAP can be more engaged with attracting members from across our three areas of emphasis. We’re celebrating our history but also looking forward to our future in the next century. Our new 2nd Century Task Force has been charged with looking at what it means in the future to be a financial services professional, and how BAP can be part of that. Our three new board members hit the ground running as members of this forward-thinking task force. We currently have 12,000 candidates and members! This year, there were four installations of new US-based chapters in the Atlantic Coast, Missouri Valley and Southeast regions, and two new chapters in Melbourne, Australia, part of our Oceania region. Just as exciting, we have our first petitioning chapter from Saudi Arabia.

Our International Alumni Representatives were hard at work as well during the past year. They not only helped streamline the Deloitte Best Practices competition judging operations during the year, they also went live at the annual meeting in Chicago with the BAP Alumni Network. This excellent platform on the BAP website helps connect current members and alumni to each other across the globe. Members of this platform are able to grow their network with other members and alumni they have met at regional and annual meetings. This platform allows BAP to increase our engagement with current members and alumni, while also allowing alumni and current members to grow their professional network.

This past May, we introduced the Beta Alpha Psi Lifetime Member digital badge. The digital badge contains metadata describing each members’ qualifications and credentials, including how they earned them to verify their membership of Beta Alpha Psi. We hope our members continue to take advantage of this new feature and enjoy the convenience and professional recognition afforded by our digital badge program.

Throughout this report, you will find that Beta Alpha Psi is proud of the members, alumni, faculty advisors, Professional Partners, Board of Directors, Chapter Advocates and every volunteer that contributes to the success of this organization. A special thank you to everyone – especially to those that sponsor one of our competitions or awards. We couldn’t do this without any of you.

It seems like our 100th Anniversary year flew by in a blur! I was privileged to work with such outstanding people – from the Executive Office to the Board of Directors, with students, faculty and Professional Partners. We accomplished so much and have so much to look forward to. I’m proud to have been a part of that, and to help continue planting trees and provide shade for the future of our profession.

Alexandra Miller, CPA
Board President 2018-2019

2019 BAP Annual Report (PDF)

Financial Statements FY19