5 Questions For: Candace Ivey
Candace Ivey is an Executive Assistant in the Assurance practice of CohnReznick’s Atlanta office. A graduate of Emory College, where she double majored in Women’s Studies and History, Candace wears many leadership hats. She is co-chair (with Partner Shellie Gifford) of Atlanta’s CARES Social Impact Committee, a member of the National Diversity & Inclusion Council, and Secretary of the Atlanta Diversity & Inclusion Local Action Council. She also serves on the Atlanta office events committee and is one of two CXP super users for the Atlanta office.
Candace talks to Katura Hudson, Internal Communication Senior Manager, about the value of a liberal arts education in finance-focused industries, community service leadership, and creating a seat at the table.
This is such a hard question! So many people have championed some really significant work here in the Atlanta office. We just finished participating in the Georgia Accounting Food Fight coordinated by the Atlanta Community Food Bank. It is an annual competition held over two weeks in August between accounting and financial services firms across the state, with donations benefitting the food bank closest to the offices that are participating. This year was our second to participate and we raised $3,235, which is the equivalent of 12,963 meals for the Atlanta Community Food Bank!
Another wonderful initiative is our annual Community Service Day, where people are given the option instead of their normal workday to volunteer at a local organization. The past three years we have partnered with over a dozen organizations and have consistently had between 80-90 people sign up to volunteer. These organizations focus on a variety of issues, such as LGBTQ+ homeless youth, animal shelters, meal delivery for the hungry, food banks, children’s services, childhood cancer, and environmental stewardship. It takes a team of people to coordinate with these organizations to find one day a year we can partner with them, and it has a significant impact in our community, which we can accomplish thanks to the support of CohnReznick.

Maybe one of the most challenging parts of my job is not having the institutional power to make changes at the policy level. I may personally view some policies or procedures as outdated, but they may remain because “that is the way things are done” or a general fear of change. To feel like I have a voice, I join (and encourage others to join) many committees so that I have a literal seat at the table and can participate in discussions that lead to more of the innovative, progressive, growth-focused change that we want at CohnReznick. I think it is especially important for those on the Practice Management side of a client services-oriented firm to participate when the opportunity presents itself. I am also encouraged to explore my own reluctance to change and to attempt to be more open to new ideas and trying new ways of doing things.
I’m participating in the Atlanta office’s D&I Council and CARES joint Veterans Day initiative to collect Pay It Forward funds to purchase items for care packages for a deployed Army troop. Carla White, who is a veteran and works as our office Billing Coordinator, is leading the effort.
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