For someone so early in their career, Mary Tang, BBA ‘18, MAcc ‘19, understands leadership.
Most recently, Mary was named the Atlantic Regional Alumni Representative for Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), an international honor society for accounting, finance and information systems students and professionals. She also served as the president for the Temple chapter of BAP during her time at the Fox School.
Her role as president of BAP, as well as her tenure as the ASCEND president during the 2016-2017 academic year, helped her develop professionally. She participated in a variety of leadership programs during her time as an undergraduate student, including PwC Explore, RSM Pathways, Baker Tilly Spotlight, KPMG Global Advantage, EY Emerging Leaders Program and more. She also interned at KPMG, which allowed her to gain audit experience. After her internship, she was offered a full-time position as an audit associate in the Philadelphia office.
“Being involved with student professional organizations (SPOs) like BAP taught me that the classroom doesn’t necessarily teach you how to get a job,” she says. “Since learning that, I’ve taken that lesson on to how I do my work at KPMG. I am constantly wanting more—whether it be audit work or extracurricular activities in the office and beyond.”
In her new role as the Atlantic regional alumni representative for BAP, Mary will work with alumni representatives internationally on initiatives to improve the value that Beta Alpha Psi brings to members. Mary will be the voice of students in the region in order to ensure that their perspectives and concerns are addressed.
“I will be able to have an outreach to chapters beyond Temple and Fox,” she says. “By being a regional representative, I have exposure to students from schools all over the Atlantic Region. I can learn about what worked and did not work for them, and hopefully expand their networks and minds as well by introducing them to different chapters to connect.”
Mary is bringing her leadership skills and a unique perspective to her new role. Since entering the world of public accounting and corporate America, she noticed that there is a serious lack of diversity. As a first-generation Asian American college student, the subject is near and dear to her heart.
“Though being in BAP as an alumni representative will not change this overnight, I think my background at a diverse university can help start conversations on what we can do to increase our membership with more diverse students which will then funnel into full-time employment with these firms,” she says.