RSM Supports National Cohort to Help Small Minority-owned Businesses Grow

CHICAGO – (April 11, 2023) – RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the nation’s leading provider of assurance, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market – is pleased to announce that it is working with the University of Washington Foster School of Business as a resource for the Ascend National Cohort business growth program.

Through the program, RSM professionals work with the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management to educate small business leaders from across the U.S., by providing financial management education and coaching to participants to help prepare them for an ever-changing world.

The goal of the Ascend National Cohort is that by 2025, the program will have helped more than 100 minority-owned small businesses grow. This will include 75 minority-owned businesses with revenues of more than $5 million and 25 businesses with revenues of up to $10 million.

Through RSM’s work with the Ascend National Cohort, RSM professionals are helping these “pre-middle market” businesses understand the challenges and pathways to success as they move into the middle market. This not only helps ensure their success as these businesses grow, but it helps address the wealth gap in the U.S. and the impact it has on our nation’s economy.   

Professionals from RSM’s African American and Canadian Excellence (AACE) employee network group (ENG) and other leaders involved with the firm’s culture, diversity and inclusion (CDI) efforts have helped lead RSM’s efforts for the program and are excited to help drive inclusive economic growth for minority-owned businesses by providing them with access to the education and other resources needed to achieve sustained growth. The RSM US Foundation has also donated scholarships to students at the Foster School of Business to support their continued efforts as student advisors and business coaches for the program.

“Today’s world is ever-changing and increasingly global,” said Aureon Herron-Hinds, a principal with RSM US LLP and national leader of RSM’s AACE ENG.  “By supporting the Ascend National Cohort, we’re helping small businesses prepare for a dynamic future through education and ongoing consulting services we provide to participants. It’s a ‘win’ for small businesses who are able to expand beyond their wildest dreams and for the economy which benefits by putting success within reach for many who would otherwise not have had the skills or insights to expand exponentially.”  

About Ascend
Ascend links business schools, business service-providing organizations and community development financial institutions to create local support ecosystems for neighborhood-based inner-city and minority-owned businesses including Atlanta, Columbus, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Ascend was created through a grant from JPMorgan Chase’s Small Business Forward Initiative. The initiative supports small businesses with the potential to grow, offer quality employment and to create economic opportunities for vulnerable populations and their communities.