In 1980, three Seattle accountants were troubled by the lack of diversity in the accounting field, and decided to do something about it.

THE ACAP story

During the 1970’s, it became apparent that few college graduates of color were entering the accounting profession. At the time, the “Big Eight” accounting firms were flourishing, but there was a conspicuous dearth of diversity in these firms, and the industry as a whole.

Boh Dickey, a young CPA from a small town in Montana working at Haskins and Sells (now Deloitte & Touche) in Seattle, was concerned about this lack of diversity in his organization and professional field. Dickey joined a newly formed committee of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants (WSCPA), the Intercultural Development Committee, which was created to foster minority representation within the accounting profession.

Soon after becoming committee’s Chair, Dickey had the fortune to meet two other accountants, Ron Leverett and Mel Minnis, who were both involved with the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Leverett and Minnis shared Dickey’s passion for bringing greater diversity to the accounting field, and also wanted to make a difference in the communities of color that they came from.

During the latter part of the 1970s, Dickey, Minnis and Leverett talked much and thought hard about how to address the problem. As Dickey liked to say, during those times “talk was cheap in the business world about improving diversity, but little was effective.” Together, the three concluded was that one key part of the problem was that there were too few high school students of color entering college with an eye on the accounting profession. Their solution was to get to their target population of students while they were still in high school, in order to give them a sense of the accounting career path and its benefits, a taste of what the profession was about, and the quality of people in the field.

ACAP – the Accounting Career Awareness Program – was the outcome of their many conversations. ACAP would be a program whose core concept was a one week “residency” program, where high school students of color would be housed on a college campus for a week, living and learning much like college students do, while being put through a curriculum of personal development combined with a broad introduction to accounting majors, careers, and relevant topics for those working in the business arena.

All courses would be instructed by volunteer professionals from the field, and participants would all be matched with mentors to help provide each student with a personal, supportive connection to someone working in the accounting field. The program would be 100% free for all participants. And so, in 1980, ACAP was born, and two years later, the first Residency Week program was offered on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.

That year, in 1982, Dickey who was a partner with Haskins and Sells, left the firm to join SAFECO Corporation, a Seattle based insurance and financial services company, as their controller. This gave Dickey and his ACAP partners some very needed exposure in the Seattle business community and at last, funds were raised to support the first Residency Week program. The program has been held every year since then, and ACAP Seattle has spawned similar ACAP Residency Week programs all across the country.

Minnis and Leverett, who both spent time serving as ACAP’s Executive Director, have since passed away, and Dickey retired from SAFECO as President and COO. All three poured tremendous amounts of heart, soul, time and energy into ACAP’s success and sustainability. Dickey is still involved with ACAP today as a board member, donor, and Chair of the ACAP Seattle’s fundraising committee. He also presents to students at ACAP’s annual Residency Week, as he has every year, on the topic of Leadership and Ethics.

It is estimated that ACAP Seattle has graduated over 1500 alumni in its near-40-year history, and the program continues to serve high school students and communities of color, and the accounting industry, and remains firmly rooted in the same mission and values that brought the program to life so many years ago.

We are proud of what ACAP has been able to accomplish, and even more proud of what ACAP students have gone on to do in their lives, in their communities, and in the world.