Where I'm coming from

In April, I completed my master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Colombia. Regent is a small graduate school on the University of British Colombia campus. The program at Regent provided a broad foundation in the areas of history, philosophy, sociology and the theological roots of these topics. My coursework included seminar discussions on ecology, economics, postmodernism and technology. The integrated approach helped me to see the complexity of global ethics and the need for accounting and auditing for sustainability.

I went to Regent because I was dismayed by the lack of ethics training in MBA programs in the US. I already have a business degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with an accounting emphasis. I’ve worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young, Hewlett-Packard, Agilent, and KPMG. I also feel a moral responsibility to give to the accounting profession after the scandals that we’ve experienced over the last five years. Canada is at the forefront of ethics, human rights and environmental initiatives. Living in Vancouver gave me an outsider’s perspective on the culture of the US and more specifically the Silicon Valley where I grew up and worked in the accounting profession. Regent did not disappoint me. I found a passion for scholarly work in developing new approaches to the systemic problems that continue to plague the accounting industry and global markets.

KPMG was gracious enough to grant me an educational leave of absence in order to finish the master’s degree. After working as a manager on the implementation team for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act at the Silicon Valley’s largest technology clients, I learned first hand the intricacies of the new legislation. I also learned the shortcomings of the Act. The focus on legal compliance and specific financial controls, though important in preventing fraud, failed to identify the core issues of corporate citizenship. The modern corporation is overly focused on financial reporting and not broader issues of accountability and sustainability.