November 2023 IN THIS ISSUE: ► Building winning culture through community involvement
News from your accounting association
Building winning culture through community involvement Interview with Staci Sprayberry Marketing Director, Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP Maxwell Locke & Ritter, LLP (ML&R), headquartered in Austin, Texas, was founded in 1991 and has spent more than 30 years ensuring they are a great place to work. After consistently finding themselves on Accounting Today’s Best Firms to Work For, Regional Leaders and Staci Sprayberry Best Firms for Women, INSIDE Public Accounting’s Best of the Best Firms, and even being recognized as a Best Place for Working Parents, it’s evident that they’ve accomplished that goal. According to their website, from the beginning, ML&R’s founders — Earl Maxwell, Tom Locke and Mark Ritter — were determined to establish a new kind of CPA firm. Knowing there was a way to practice public accounting that increased employee satisfaction, they focused on founding a unique company culture, where people looked forward to spending their time in the workplace. This set the stage for their culture today, one that is focused on helping employees reach their potential, while providing exceptional service to clients and the community. Staci Sprayberry, ML&R marketing director, shared that the founders’ vision is still reflected in the current three pillars that guide the firm; their people, their clients and the community. One priority that they place a special emphasis on is the community. “Since the inception of the firm, one of our core values has been about honoring
your commitments and living up to your commitments to the community,” said Sprayberry. “Active participation is encouraged.” Giving back to the community is so ingrained in their firm’s culture that they have served nearly 300 different organizations over the years. They provide support to charitable organizations in a variety of ways, including firm-wide Days of Giving at a local food bank, sponsoring local events, collecting toys for holiday wish lists, providing in-kind accounting services to nonprofit partners, and more. Whether team members are involved in organizations for business development purposes or because of personal connections, Sprayberry shared the importance they place on supporting causes and initiatives that their team members are passionate about. Even with about 40 of their roughly 180 employees living outside of the Central Texas region, it’s crucial for all team members to feel supported in their volunteering efforts. “As our community activities have grown, we formed a Community Involvement Committee led by our IT security & compliance partner, Kate Williams. This committee features diverse team members from different service lines, levels, ages and genders to ensure all voices at the firm are heard,” explained Sprayberry. The Community Involvement Committee helps to shape, manage and track all firm-wide activities. One such organization that ML&R supports is Meals on Wheels. Since 1996, teams from ML&R have gathered to provide hot meals to seniors in need in their community. For the past
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several years, ML&R’s Meals on Wheels efforts have been led by Jill Lewis (right), audit support associate. “Maxwell Locke & Ritter provides a foundation that empowers me to be involved in so many ways with people and causes that are near and dear to my heart,” shared Lewis. “I’ve been active with our Meals on Wheels team for the past 12 years, as team leader and company liaison, delivering nourishment, helping with gardening tasks, providing household needs and holiday surprises, playing dominos, partaking in life celebrations, going on outings, and supportive hospital visits.” In addition to volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Lewis has been active in supporting other ML&R causes. “I’ve also been able to be involved in and create efforts, as opportunities arose, to support and care for locally unhoused persons, refugees, abused persons, people needing access to healthcare, the LGBTQIA+ community, local schools, children, animal shelters, foodbanks, and children’s education & basic needs in rural India. ML&R’s commitment to the community has enriched my life with meaningful interactions and has allowed me to live with greater purpose through these efforts,” said Lewis. If you’re interested in learning more about ML&R’s community involvement, please contact Staci Sprayberry at ssprayberry@mlrpc.com.