Crowe LLP Leader Aims to Boost Racial Diversity in Accounting

At a National Association of Black Accountants student conference last fall, longtime member Herschel Frierson spotted a problem. A group of students on their way to the event’s job fair weren’t dressed appropriately.

Frierson and other NABA members pulled them aside, slipped off their ties, and handed them to the students, said Angel Johnson, a former national director on NABA’s board, signaling the “ultimate” in mentorship.

In more than two decades as a NABA member and Crowe LLP employee, Frierson has led the charge to add racial diversity to the accounting ranks.

In 2016, only 1 percent of CPAs ...