Y (Ernst & Young, LLP) is a multinational professional services firm focused on tax, audit, and consulting. But the E part of the firm was born in Cleveland, Ohio, as Ernst & Ernst in 1903. EY’s purpose is to build a better working world. For them, that includes giving back to the communities where they live and work.
“I like to say, ‘We don’t sell products; we sell ourselves.’ We are a service business,” says Monte Repasky, EY’s Cleveland Office Managing Partner. “What we have is our people, and they live in the community.” This, for EY, means getting involved. It’s unsurprising then that EY and United Way in Cleveland have a robust and long-standing relationship, having partnered together locally, since 1913.
Cleveland has hovered near number one on the list of the US’s poorest cities for the last two decades. EY regularly receives charitable requests. For Repasky and Lisa Hunt, Partner, and leader of EY’s annual United Way campaign, United Way gives them a way to be immediately productive.
Repasky and his team give their money and time in support of issues to which they also give a voice. Repasky sits on United Way of Greater Cleveland’s board, while EY partners and principals participate on over 35 other Cleveland nonprofit boards. Their yearly EY Connect Day provides employees with a paid day off to volunteer with local causes. And over the last two years, their workplace giving campaigns raised approximately $875,000 to support United Way of Greater Cleveland.
Hunt took over the campaign leader role two years ago. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, she says she learned about the inequities in her adopted city. She wanted to spread that message and raise more money to help. She saw the opportunity to increase participation and excitement among younger staff. “They have a more philanthropic mindset when efforts align with their passions,” she says. She started by educating them about the need in the community and the different ways United Way works to make a change.
“There are a lot of people out there, especially kids,” Repasky says, “who, if they don’t have a chance when they’re little, the statistics show that likelihood of success as an adult is significantly lower.” Youth in Cleveland’s historically redlined neighborhoods are especially susceptible. EY sees tackling the Digital Divide as a concrete way to make a difference.
When schools were closed during the pandemic, kids with unreliable internet access missed precious learning. EY teamed with United Ways across the country to help provide internet connectivity, digital devices, and online mentoring opportunities for underserved students and their families. In Cleveland, during the last 2 years, EY invested approximately $275,000 with United Way to help bridge the Digital Divide through Academic Learning Pods (ALP) and support a project to improve digital literacy focused on Cleveland high schools in the historically redlined areas. While the office is smaller than many of its counterparts, Cleveland raised the most for the Digital Divide work out of all the EY offices and was sixth in overall fundraising out of 82 US offices.
It’s a point of pride to be the founding city of Ernst & Ernst. Hunt and Repasky also know that their young colleagues will take the lessons they learn at EY with them as they move on in their careers. “We’re not just training them to be good accountants, auditors, and consultants,” Repasky adds. “We’re training them to be good professionals. And part of that is engaging in your community and giving back.”
Using values-based hiring, EY employs people who demonstrate integrity, respect, teaming, and inclusiveness; people with energy, enthusiasm, and the courage to lead; and people who build relationships based on doing the right thing.
“We try to instill that we’re very fortunate to work at a great company and do well in life. There’s real satisfaction in participating in your community, and it’s important for everyone, not just something the partners should do.”
This article originally appeared in Give for Good, which is published by United Way of Greater Cleveland for our friends and benefactors. For more information on our Workplace Campaigns, please visit our Workplace Campaign page or email Sandra Fletcher, Senior Associate Director, Corporate Philanthropy sfletcher@unitedwaycleveland.org.
