Welcome to the website of the Reno Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants! I am both very blessed and very excited to serve as Chapter President for the 2018/2019 year. We have a number of upcoming exciting events and opportunities that we look forward to sharing.
Since I began volunteering with the local chapter almost three years ago, I have developed connections with other accounting and business professionals in the community that I did not have access to beforehand. More importantly, the IMA has provided me with learning opportunities to make me a better, more diverse business professional. That said, I am very grateful for the IMA community in the area and would recommend that anyone who is considering involvement to get involved.
Some of our key strategic initiatives are to increase awareness of the IMA and CMA certification, to grow the next generation of young professionals, and be a source for lifelong learning. We intentionally left growing the definition of young professionals broad in order to maximize our outreach and impact. The accounting community remains very binary, with many still thinking in terms of public vs managerial or CPA vs CMA. Our chapter board realized that instead of trying to persuade students and professionals to choose the CMA instead of something else, why not persuade students and professionals to choose the CMA in addition to other credentials they are pursuing?
Keeping in mind the tight-knit (but rapidly expanding) Reno area, the Reno IMA has begun holding events to educate accountants and business professionals on several facets of business, not just accounting as it pertains to revenues and expenses, or debits and credits. We have also begun partnering with other community organizations and extending invitations to their members to attend IMA events. Being a source for lifelong learning means creating and leveraging connections and choosing speaker topics that appeal to a wide variety of professionals.
Since I joined the chapter board, my goal has always been to make a difference in the growth of the community and connect others with people and resources that will allow them to address challenges more effectively. I look forward to continuing this path as Chapter President and look forward to meeting everyone at our events this year.
Justin Sherman
President
IMA- Reno Area Chapter