July 14, 2021
Media Contact:
Meghan Risch
R4 Communications Strategies, Inc.
312.388.1174
REPORT ON INCLUSIVE SPENDING EFFORTS (RISE) LAUNCHES TO BOLSTER
DMO and ASSOCIATION DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION EFFORTS
Data-Driven Tool Delivers Insights and Best Practices to
Help Organizations Support Economic Opportunity by Achieving Vendor Diversity
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- Julie Hart, President of CFO by Design, a leading female-owned financial services firm, today announced Report on Inclusive Spending Efforts (RISE), a new initiative to help DMOs and associations bolster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals and initiatives. RISE is a data-driven tool developed to establish impactful purchasing processes that reflect the DMO and association’s respective communities while providing relevant industry comparisons. CFObd is well known for customized dashboards that make complex financial data easily understandable and this same touch is incorporated into RISE. The new offering under CFO by Design was launched during Destinations International’s Annual Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
Recognized throughout the industry, Hart is known for her expertise in guiding executives and board leadership to adopt a long-term and holistic strategic planning approach toward organizational finances. Her inspiration for creating RISE is based on her steadfast belief that economic opportunity does not simply change one life, it changes a family, and ultimately generations.
“Society rises with economic opportunity,” said Hart. “Like everything we do at CFO by Design, we believe in data with context. People are more than a single check box; your data should be too.”
A robust and growing vendor database is a critical component to the solution RISE offers. While many leaders want to expand and diversify their purchasing process, an easily accessible industry-focused database does not exist. RISE will partner with DMOs and associations to analyze current vendors, provide the necessary data to benchmark the organization, and establish purchasing policies to support their respective DEI initiatives.
Hart’s recent work in the DEI space includes Tourism Diversity Matters (TDM) and Destinations International.
Mike Gamble, TDM’s Founder and President and CEO of SearchWide Global enlisted Hart’s guidance prior to officially launching TDM earlier this year.
“Julie and her team have provided unmatched financial, non-profit and foundation expertise since the inception of TDM,” said Gamble. “Their guidance has enabled us to build our financial framework the right way.”
CFObd has worked with DMOs and associations across the country providing services such as organizational and financial assessments, forecasting and financial strategy plans, outsourced CFO services, reviewing contract compliance and internal controls and policy development.
“Julie and her team have delivered Destinations International unmatched expertise in guiding our association through a restructure, and again during the pandemic,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO, Destinations International. “This new offering from CFObd is definitely a game changer for our industry.”
A percentage of sales from RISE will support both TDM and the Destinations International Foundation. RISE is currently available to US-based organizations and will be rolled out to Canada in a second phase. For more information, please visit RISE.
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About RISE
Established in 2021, RISE is powered by CFO by Design (CFObd), a leading female-owned financial services firm with deep roots throughout the DMO and association industry. RISE is a new data-driven tool created to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts (DEI) through an analysis of vendor spend against local census and industry average data.