Wipfli’s ESG principles

At Wipfli, we weave ESG principles throughout our operations and culture so that sustainability is embedded in all that we do.

Our team translates beliefs into measurable results by blending innovation, experience and technology to continually evolve our environmental, sustainability and governance efforts.

Here is where we are on our journey to create a lasting, positive impact on our world:

Environment

Wipfli is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and doing our part to slow climate change. We work to conserve energy resources and adopt thoughtful waste management practices through initiatives such as:

• Flexible work options: We help reduce the impact of associates’ commuting by offering flexible work options.
• Green offices: We are reducing wasted office space and cutting our impact through LED lights, automated lighting and onsite recycling. More people working from home also means less cabling and wireless access points are needed.
• AI windows: Our newer offices use AI windows that automatically adjust to heat and glare or increase light later in the day.
• Use of cloud: We have eliminated much of our on-premises server environment in favor of migrating to more energy-efficient and right-sized cloud environments.
• Push to paperless: Our client communications are digital whenever possible, and we are greatly reducing paper use at events. Offices have fewer printers with a push to hardware consolidation through energy-efficient multi-function printer/copier/scanners.
• E-waste vendor: We ensure our old laptops and other aging equipment are resold or scrapped in the most environmentally conscious manner.

Social

At Wipfli, we believe in making a lasting, positive impact both outside the walls of a firm and within. Here is how we turn that aspiration into reality:

• Our director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) coordinates, drives and elevates our DEI efforts, which include:
• Building a diverse pipeline of candidates for all roles and developing metrics that help us understand the firm’s demographics.
• Creating partnerships and sponsorships of diverse, demographic-focused organizations.
• Launching and providing structure to our associate-run business resource groups (BRGs) and exploring the creation of additional BRGs.
• Evaluating our unconscious bias training and exploring what the future of diversity and inclusion training looks like at the firm.
• Members of our business resource groups help make Wipfli more inclusive. Our current BRGs are:
• Wipfli Valor
• Women of Wipfli
• Wipfli Pride
• Embrace
• Women of Wipfli India – Aparajita
• Our Managing Partner Kurt Gresens has taken the pledge for, and is actively involved in, CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
• We also support our associates who want to give back to their communities through volunteerism or matching donations.

Governance

Wipfli is committed to a workplace that exemplifies honesty and integrity. We conduct our operations with strict adherence to the guidelines set by regulators and industry.

• We continuously review and update our internal resource library for associates to assure that we’re managing risk, meeting or exceeding legal requirements, and encouraging best practices.
• Our robust 90-day on-boarding program is evaluated annually to assure it offers not only knowledge about the firm, but also establishes a culture of transparency that encourages growth, curiosity, responsibility and a sense of mutual obligation.

Other varied and far-reaching checks and balances in place at Wipfli include:

• A governing firm structure with elected board of directors
• Governing board rotations and term limits
• Binding partnership agreements
• Work quality assurance checks and balances
• Detailed and evolving talent and culture policies
• Gender equity in pay review and adherence
• Annual ethics training
• Adherence to conflict-of-interest standards
• Extensive data security procedures
• Monthly cybersecurity training for all associates
• Ongoing associate vulnerability testing
• Participation in national and AICPA review programs