NexGen WIA

Get Ahead with NexGen WIA

Who We Are

NexGen Woman in Accounting Inc. is a recognized non-profit organization committed to increasing the representation and advancement of African American Women in the accounting profession. Founded by Janelle Murphy O’Brien, a Certified Public Accountant and rising entrepreneur, we are determined to equip and empower the next generation of African American Women with the tools, resources and support they need to find their place in their communities, navigate and overcome the unique challenges they face and ultimately, thrive!

What We Do

Through the use of programming and relationship, NexGen Women in Accounting Inc. provides young, African American women between the ages of 12 and 18 years old with the tools, resources and relational support needed to successfully explore, pursue and ultimately achieve a thriving career in accounting.

Targeting under-resourced communities and schools, we hope to bridge the gap between community members and educational and professional resources and opportunities. To do this we offer dynamic, business and accounting based programming and workshops, mentoring, community outreach, and scholarship opportunities!

Unlock Your Potential with NexGen WIA

Our Mission

We aim to expose and attract the next generation of African American women throughout the New York Metropolitan area to the potential of a rewarding career in accounting. Ultimately, our goal is to increase the representation and accelerate the advancement of African American women in the accounting profession as a whole, fulfilling our motto:

Exploring. Learning. Advancing Together.

The goals of the Organization include, but are not limited to, the following:

To encourage African American women to pursue a higher education in accounting.
To instill, grow and develop various professional, soft and business skills in our program participants.
To encourage and work with the educational system to incorporate accounting and other business-related programs and curriculum at the secondary school level.
To increase the number of diverse, female accountants in the accounting profession.
To mentor and provide hands-on coaching to those who have decided to pursue a career in accounting.
To advocate and represent the interests and needs of African American women in the finance, business, accounting, and related industries.
To initiate and encourage the building of long-term professional relationships between NexGen W.I.A participants and industry professionals.
To equip and empower underserved communities with the financial and educational resources and tools needed to successfully pursue an interest in the accounting profession.

MEET OUR FOUNDER

Janelle Murphy O'Brien

Janelle Murphy O’Brien is a multi-licensed, accounting practitioner, wife, mother, ministry leader and rising entrepreneur. A native New Yorker, she received her Bachelors of Science in Accountancy and a Masters of Science in Forensic Accounting at the reputable University at Albany, State University of New York.

Having earned her Certified Public Accountant designation while starting her professional career at one of the Big 4 Accounting Firms, Ernst and Young LLP (now known as “EY”), she has since went on to become a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified in Financial Forensics. Janelle has spent her entire career in the financial services industry and has a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise in the finance and accounting sector.

From a young age, Janelle has carried a burden for the generation of little black girls that would come after her. To inspire the next generation through her story is simply not enough. Instead, she is determined to find any way possible to uplift, empower and shift the lives of these extraordinary young women for the better and for the greater! Reflecting on her own personal journey from a young black girl, she knows how it feels to feel inadequate, underrepresented, and undervalued.

From then until now, she has both experienced and witnessed firsthand the great lack of access to the resources and opportunities needed to advance that ultimately feeds into the underrepresentation of African American women in the accounting and finance profession.

Although always a driven individual, Janelle can directly attest to the importance of having programs, advocates, mentors, and resources available to better position young women for success in the business, finance, and accounting industry. She recognizes that if it had not been for her support systems, advocates, finances, and opportunities made available to her from a young age, she would not be where she is today in terms of her professional career achievements.

With this understanding, Janelle is determined to do everything in her power to ensure the success and professional placement of the next generation of brilliant African American women!

Hence, NexGen Women in Accounting Inc. was born in May of 2020!