Bernie Milano Award
Retired Former President, KPMG Foundation and The PhD Project
Area of Impact: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
School: The Fox School of Business, Temple University
Bernard (Bernie) J. Milano has accomplished so much during his more than 50-year career at KPMG LLP and the KPMG Foundation. He graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Science in accounting, then started his career as an auditor in KPMG’s Philadelphia office, eventually becoming president of the KPMG Foundation.
Throughout his career, Milano has been a leader in driving diversity and corporate responsibility efforts. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the development of The PhD Project—a KPMG Foundation program initiated in 1994 to increase diversity in corporate America. Founded on the premise that advancements in workplace diversity could be accelerated by increasing the diversity of business school faculty, The PhD Project, along with a network of supporters, sponsors, and universities, helps Black/African Americans, Latinx/Hispanic American, and Native Americans attain PhDs and become the business professors who will mentor the next generation of leaders.
The program’s 5,000 USD annual budget has grown to over 2.3 million USD today and has more than quintupled the number of minority business faculty from just 294 in 1994 to over 1,300 today. Through The PhD Project, Milano has inspired hundreds of underrepresented professionals to take the path to the academy. In turn, these professors inspire hundreds—if not thousands—of future business leaders every day.
Milano has always contributed at an extremely high level of performance, as evidenced by his many awards, such as induction to The PhD Project Hall of Fame, the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Legends Award, the American Institute of CPAs Special Recognition Award, and the Dean’s Distinguished Recognition from the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable. He was also awarded the Outstanding Leadership in the Advancement of Diversity in Business Academia-Diversity Section of the American Accounting Association, the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Sterling Schoen Achievement Award, and the Champions of Diversity Award from Working Mother Magazine. In addition, he has received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Kent State University and an honorary Doctorate in Humanities from North Carolina A&T State University.
Milano has continued to give his time, resources, and expertise by sitting on the inaugural board of the newly created Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace Culture at Temple University's Fox School of Business. His experiences, knowledge, and creativity are useful and inspiring to his fellow board members who are senior diversity, equity, and inclusion executives at some of the largest corporations in the country, including Walmart, AIG, Aon, Campbell's Soup, Lockheed Martin, Advanced Auto Parts, Nixon Peabody, Rothman Orthopedic Institute, PwC, Lincoln Financial, Comcast, EY, and FMC Corporation.
Finally, Milano's generosity of spirit; his willingness to meet with faculty, administrators, and students alike; and his open and welcoming nature make him an asset on the board and an inspiration to all of those who work with him.
2024 Bernie Milano Award Recipient
Jennifer Neal
Jennifer Neal's Bio
​
Jennifer Neal currently serves as the National Associate Director-Campus Inclusion & Diversity for KPMG, LLP. In this role, Jennifer has served as KPMG’s national liaison for several of the largest nonprofit membership associations dedicated to increasing the pipeline for diverse students in accounting, finance and other related business professions (NABA, ALPFA, ASCEND). Traveling throughout the United States, she promotes KPMG’s Inclusion and Diversity principles while educating students on the many opportunities available within Public Accounting. Jennifer was instrumental in creating the KPMG Future Diversity Leadership (FDL) Program, the firm’s first national diversity leadership program. Now called “RISE”, the program focuses on the early recruitment of diverse freshmen and sophomores business students interested in careers at KPMG.
Over her two decades with KPMG, Jennifer has provided guidance and mentorship to over 1,000 students from campuses around the United States. As a proud graduate of an HBCU, Jennifer is currently working with the Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Dean’s Summit to promote KPMG opportunities and soft skills training to business programs on campuses across the country.
Jennifer is passionate about extending her network to connect students with mentors so that they can attain and excel in accounting careers. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion initiatives within business education and represents KPMG on numerous diversity committees within the AICPA and the American Accounting Association. When not traveling the country visiting colleges and universities, she prides herself on being a connoisseur of fine cuisine, often asked for dining recommendations from her friends and colleagues. She currently resides in Northern Virginia and is a proud graduate of Hampton University.
2024 Bernie Milano Award Recipient
Aliyah Redmond
Aliyah Redmond's Bio
​
Over the past several years, Mrs. Redmond has provided transformational support for the HBCU Business Deans Roundtable (HBCU BDR), directly or through recommendations. In 2020, the Roundtable canceled its annual conference during COVID-19, and many of our advisory members requested funding to be returned. By Jan 2021, Aliyah Redmond was on the advisory council and suggested that she would wield more robust support for Roundtable initiatives inside her company. The idea of a virtual conference (which had been canceled the previous year) began to take shape. Aliyah marshaled internal Deloitte resources to build a website and run the 2021 HBCU BDR conference registration for our virtual conference. That year, the Roundtable created a new higher sponsorship category, and Deloitte was the first to obtain this level. The 2021conference was the most cost-effective in HBCU BDR history (to-date) - in addition to being unique and informative. During the lead-up to this conference, Mrs. Redmond worked to have a session with their CEO, and the Roundtable received a commitment to host the 2022 conference at Deloitte University.
The in-person HBCU BDR 2022 conference hosted by Deloitte was a runaway success. Deloitte University, conference center and hotel, was an impeccable host (accommodations and conference cost were complimentary to the members) . The conference added an in-person student component, the first for the Roundtable (Deloitte also paid for student travel). This new standard of six-figure investment catapulted the Roundtable to use annual investments in new ways and create organizational sustainability. During the banquet at the 2022 conference, Mrs. Redmond mentioned that she would love to champion a faculty/dean development initiative in the summer of 2023.
Deloitte, under Aliyah's leadership, began scoping the idea. The idea came to fruition, and the Deloitte Future of Work Symposium was executed in late spring 2023. These events have been free to our member schools, increasing the value of HBCU BDR membership. While Deloitte increased investment with HBCU BDR, under the leadership of Aliyah, Redmond, Deloitte stepped up their program initiatives at HBCUs. Many of our students have received internships and full-time offers from Deloitte. These initiatives also impact other companies vying for the attention of our schools and students - these other companies have stepped up their investments, too!